Today, conservative punditry, both professional and amateur, stands ready to offer words of encouragement and explanations. “Being down is ok, but it is time to get to work” they say. Others proffer explanations as to why the opposition party could not secure real victory amidst such a dire economic backdrop. Some point to petty in-fighting inside the GOP, others to voting irregularities in major urban areas. There may be merit in those conversations, perhaps, but none of that is the cause of what has occurred. If one does not address the prime cause what difference does it make poking around on tertiary issues on the edges? Doing that would merely be busy work. “It is time to get to work,” they say, get to work doing what precisely? Doing more politics?
Several things can be completely or just partially true, and still not impact the core of the issue. There may have been irregularities in key urban areas. And this could be an expansion of events that occurred in 2020. It is certainly obvious that the GOP contains many personalities that are more concerned with ego and self than principle. But are these the main issues?
Take a gander at the “wine aunt, soccer mom, teacher” space on social media. Listen to the things they believe and ask how they could come to those conclusions. It is more complex than merely parroting propaganda fed to them. We must ask how they came to believe what they believed and what moral and epistemological framework they are operating from that allowed them to believe absurdities. It goes right back to worldview. Many of those in that group may believe themselves good people, decent people, and some claim to be Christians but what is the composition of their moral compass that allows them to be so motivated by the narrative of abortion? What is the rubric that defines good and evil for them? Take a look at them on social media leading up to the election, it is clear they are not operating from a position of truth and they as a whole they are incapable of telling good from evil.
But it is not just that group of Instagram users. What of the thousands that still flock to a Trump rally to hear invocations by Kenneth Copeland in support of a man that did as much tyranny in 2020 as Abraham Lincoln? Even understanding the sentence, I just wrote requires discernment driven by ultimate truth that so many among us lack. Heresy and tyranny are not good looks, and yet. What of the others in the GOP that supported, tacitly or openly, evil and corrupt men just to get back at Trump? It is not just the emotion-driven wine-drinking shoe shoppers at fault here. What has the GOP become, and what does it stand for? What thing of principles does it do? If you are the sort that blindly supports Trump or hates him and that is your primary battle line in GOP politics, I would suggest you do not understand conservatism or ultimate truth. The whole lot is rotten, Trump and his enemies in the GOP.
What of the thousands of lemmings that hang on every word of social media influencers? Young upstarts appeared just in time to lead and guide us. Have you ever wondered about some of the sexual and social deviants these people have introduced you to? Has this set ever used their massive platforms to raise their hands and yell “stop, conservatism has lost its way”? No, many would rather sell pillows or tell you that Antifa is an existential threat. It is not, it exists because truth has been depreciated by the people that proclaim to defend truth.
What of the very pious religious set that spends their time actively placing their heads in the sand only to occasionally raise it to insult a man like Doug Wilson? Oh, they seldom step up to assault the monotheistic deism taught by most evangelicals that claim Christianity. They only get their dander up at the one guy that says “America will fall if we do not reclaim an orthodox Christian worldview”. TheoBros and Reformed Pietists are no better than the wine aunts above, maybe worse. Reformed guys know truth, they are just afraid to proclaim that it is essential to everything.
Do you want to know why conservatism turned into big government, wars, and feckless opposition? It stopped being conservative, it ceased being concerned in a vigilant way about permanent things. Fighting CRT or drag queens in a post-truth culture, and believing it was a culture war was insanely stupid. It missed the forest for the trees. Particularly considering how toxic, hateful, and banal many “conservatives” actually are. Truth must be told in kindness and in love. Social media brought out the worst in humans. All those conservatives ‘owning libs’ was just wrong, every person that has practiced it needs to stop talking and reflect. Everyone that boosted it likewise. The real war that has been fought was centered around emotions. Unfortunately, that is what drives wine aunts, millennial women, and Gen Z. Leftists won the war by crafting a narrative that their ideas were loving, while people that thought themselves conservative aided that effort by often acting like tools. You can thank that club of influencers mentioned above for aiding in making this behavior the norm.
Losing a war is hard, and conservatism was lost a long time ago when all conservatism was banished from the movement. Populism is and always has been a stupid man’s ploy, historically it never works and it is always coopted by evil men. If you want to be brutally honest, that happened in 2016, just as it always happens. There is a defense, and that is adhering to the principles of conservatism, not just memes, and slogans, but living the principles. If we did that, we would have demanded better candidates for a long time.
It is my contention that a revolution occurred in 2020, it probably began much earlier in the century, but major muscle moves occurred that year. Power was secured and in the ensuing two years that power has been consolidated. It was not absolute in 2020, and neither in 2022 but the inherent weaknesses in the conservative movement ensured success. Moving forward additional power will be consolidated. Future elections more difficult and the status of the GOP as a powerless opposition party ensured. People have said it often, but it is truer than ever before. Politics is useless to true conservatism now and for the foreseeable future.
If we care, if we really want to fight our only hope is to change hearts and minds. It is not a task that is achievable without the will and purpose of God. All of the theobros that have routinely claimed that God has a purpose for America because she sent missionaries to the world perhaps believe they understand the mind and sovereignty of God better than I do. The only thing America exports now and in the future is decadence and war because we are decadent and godless. We are decadent because there are few conservatives truly concerned with preserving the permanent things that once existed that give credit to this false narrative that we are protected and special.
If you care, then you will stop caring about politics and never send another penny to the GOP or attend any more dancing man rallies. Send them a message that they have lost their way. If you care, you will search your soul and seek God and his will and his purposes. If you care you will speak truth in love and kindness and rebuke toxic hateful behavior, particularly from your side. If you care, you will change your spirit and perhaps in doing so, being Salt and Light, you might just rub off on those around you.
The thing progressives offer is hollow. It will lead to sadness, angst, and eventually tyranny. Eventually, it can only prevail by an iron hand. People will eventually seek a better answer. We need to start being champions of that, a principled and truth-based answer. We need to cease being like the world.
This is how it is. Some will read the above and understand, many will argue the fine points. We have nothing to offer in what we have become. We need to be what we were created as and as our God intended. Rebuke lies, rebuke the liars that got us here, rebuke cowards that say hide, rebuke hate and anger – be love, kindness, truth and light. There is no other way at this point.
