Conservatives Corner believes conservatism rests on three main pillars: Biblical Precedent, Natural Law, and Federalism. Obviously, there are many more philosophies that support the principles of conservatism, but Conservatives Corner believes these three pillars hold the most weight.
Biblical precedent refers to the Bible’s historical authority for establishing societal laws. The Bible contains a code of ethics prescribed initially to the ancient Israelites in the Hebrew Scriptures and later reinforced in the New Testament. This is what is commonly referred to as “Judeo-Christian” values, because those of the Jewish and Christian faiths share a textual authority for their moral laws, even if they disagree theologically.
The most well-known biblical laws are the Ten Commandments, which were given to Moses at Mt. Sinai as described in the book of Exodus. However, several hundred laws were later mandated to the nation of Israel, which built upon the original Ten Commandments, as a governing system to address specific situations of daily life. They provided instructions for religious worship, but they also provided a system of administering legal justice among a society. Later, an attorney asked Jesus in the New Testament what the greatest commandment is. He replied, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.’” This response encapsulated the essence of the original Ten Commandments, as well as the hundreds that followed. The second commandment Jesus references is akin to the concept of self-preservation, which is central to the philosophy of Natural Law. Conservatism recognizes the Judeo-Christian origins of American politics, but invites Americans to participate in the American experiment without pledging allegiance to any particular religion or faith.
The principles that underly the commandments of the bible were used to create the United States Constitution, as well as most other revolutionary documents during the time of America’s founding. As a result, Conservatives Corner considers biblical precedent the cornerstone of American civics. One does not need to be a person of religious faith to be a conservative, but it would be intellectually dishonest to ignore the role the Bible’s had shaping the core of conservatism.
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