Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice neither in my opinion is safe."
Edmund Burke (1729-97) Irish philosopher British-Whig parliamentarian often regarded as the father of modern conservatism.
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J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur (1735-1813) French-American writer and author/caption
J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur (1735-1813) French-American writer and author/caption
No consensus exists that defines conservatism though most of the Anglo-American world will insist it is an entire ideology that includes a school of economics. What can be stated though is the importance of the field of academia known as semantics the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. There are of course copious branches to this particular linguistic genre among which are formal semantics or studies the logical aspects of meaning such as sense reference implication and logical form; lexical semantics which studies word meanings and word relations; and conceptual semantics which studies the cognitive structure of meaning. And if we account for in America the rising number of immigrants arriving daily not to mention the varieties of colloquial idiosyncrasies that are the ingredients to our melting pot then the very bedrock of America based on the principles established by the French settler J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur in his landmark 1782 serial Letters from an American Farmer must define it.
De Crevecoeur defines the American as ... this new man" in Letter III ... who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced the new government he obeys and the new rank he holds." Furthermore Americans are the western pilgrims" who became Americans by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater" hence De Crevecoeurs reference to America as home to individuals of all races... melted into a new race of man whose labors and posterity..." a subtle yet poignant tribute to the leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony John Winthrop who aboard his vessel Arbella as he approached the region wrote in his sermon titled A Modell" that
Wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when hee shall make us a prayse and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations the Lord make it likely that of New England. For wee must consider that wee shall be as a citty upon a hill. The eies of all people are uppon us."
Furthermore Winthrops invocation for his 1630 landing near present-day Boston should be noted by all as understanding the bedrock of the foundation of these new western pilgrims house; that
Therefore lett us choose life that wee
and our seede may liue by obeyeing
His voyce and cleaveing to Him
for Hee is our life and our prosperity.
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Rev. John Winthrop (1587-1649) English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony the first major settlement in what is now New England after Plymouth Colony/caption
Rev. John Winthrop (1587-1649) English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony the first major settlement in what is now New England after Plymouth Colony/caption
We must conclude that our lives and prosperity are granted only by the grace of God. If as Edmund Burke observed The wisdom of our ancestors" provides us the shoulders of giants for us to understand the present the ... unbiased opinion his mature judgment his enlightened conscience" should apply his conviction that ... he ought not to sacrifice to you to any man or to any set of men living" nor ... derive from your pleasure… from the law and the Constitution." Rather the wise just leaders are bound to a trust from Providence for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable" and therefore are elected for ... not his industry only but his judgment." They would consequently prove unethical and unfit to serve at his all-important vocation a man who betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion" through corrupt bargains inculcated within secular vices. And in juxtaposing the phenomena behind irony in coinciding with the truth the Danish Christian existentialist Sren Kierkegaard (1813-55) penned in his Upbuilding Discourses (1843-44) that You wanted Gods ideas about what was best for you to coincide with your ideas but you also wanted him to be the almighty Creator of heaven and earth so that he could properly fulfill your wish. And yet if he were to share your ideas he would cease to be the almighty Father."
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Sren Kierkegaard (1813-55) Danish philosopher theologian poet social critic and religious author widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher./caption
Sren Kierkegaard (1813-55) Danish philosopher theologian poet social critic and religious author widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher./caption
Each American should therefore conclude as did Sir Isaac Newton in Law III of his Laws of Conservation and Energy that To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and directed to contrary parts."
Such as it is in summarizing conservatism: the adherence as Russell Kirk noted to custom convention and continuity" through the spices permeating the principle of variety." As Burke too noted We must all obey the great law of change" given It is the most powerful law of nature and the means perhaps of its conservation." Therefore Conservatives are champions of custom convention and continuity" opined Kirk because they prefer the devil they know to the devil they dont know." Civil society can ill-afford its house being divided given the cracks sever its foundation from His rock. (Matthew 12:25; 7:24).
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Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727). English physicist philosopher and mathematician/caption
Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727). English physicist philosopher and mathematician/caption