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October 14, 2006

(Boring political post, feel free to avoid.)

This is one of the most interesting political letters I've read pretty much ever.

Mind you, you should not be confused about its intent - it is an advertisement for FreedomWorks, a grassroots conservative/libertarian PAC and thinktank. Mind you, you should not be confused about its author, who was one of the firebrands of the Republican Revolution in 1994 (back when I was excited about the idea of being a Republican) - and one who still has those central passions still plainly in display.

But to read this kind of principled, conservative - and even Christian - takedown of how much Republicans have comprehensively gotten wrong over the past six years is stunning. Case in point:

Freedom works. Freedom is a gift from God Almighty, and we have a responsibility to protect it. Christians face a temptation to power when we are fortunate enough to have a majority of support in Congress. But government can never advance a faith that is freely given, and it is corrosive to even try. Just look at Europe, where decades of nanny-state activism— including taxpayer support for churches and for religious political parties— have severely eroded the faith. In America today, too many of our Christian leaders fail to recognize the temptation to power and the danger it holds for our society and our faith.

And so America’s Christian conservative movement is confronted with this divide: small government advocates who want to practice their faith independent of heavy-handed government versus big government sympathizers who want to impose their version of "righteousness" on others through the hammer of law.

We must avoid the temptation to use the power of government to perfect our society and its citizens. That is the same urge that drives the Left and the socialists, and I can assure you that every program or power we give government today in the name of our values can be turned against us when the day comes where a majority of Congress is hostile to us.

Again, disagree with the motivations of that statement if you will - and many of you will - but understand that there is a sea change in American political thought coming, if you can consider anything in the W era "political thought" at all. And it is not purely a rise of Democrats to overthrow a corrupt GOP - in fact, the thing that keeps me from pulling a straight Democratic ticket in November is the fact that I have never seen this sophisticated a debate about what government is and what government should be from Democrats. Ever. The Dems have never even come close. The sophistication and rigor comes broadly from conservatives and libertarians.

(Hrm. I didn't start this post with the intent to make that kind of turn, but it is how I feel, so why stop now?)

The hat tip for the above take goes to - as seems to be the pattern for these sorts of things - Andrew Sullivan's blog. Talk about a guy who you might or might not agree with - Sullivan is one of the most polarizing writers I read, who can offend in one post and tug at the heart strings in the next and argue intelligently and passionately in the next. He shoves the homosexuality issue in my face, which is at the core of so many of my deepest spirutal questions and even now (in this supposedly enlightened age and in my supposedly enlightened phase) I'm not entirely comfortable with.

But the debate - about what government is, about what faith is, about what terrorism is, about what conservatism is, about what Christianity is, about what this war is, even about who we are as the heirs of Western civilization - is there on his pages. It is all out there, it is argued fiercely, and I am exposed to more thinking from ALL corners of political thought than I would be otherwise. And it is important to see how as many people think as possible, rather than closeting ourselves into one small corner of the political spectrum and simply being comfortable there.

And that's probably the best conclusion I can come up with for this collection of thoughts, so I'll shut up.

Posted by Chuck at October 14, 2006 07:25 AM

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