The Politics Of Conscience

Joe Bell

American politics should be more concerned with matters of conscience and less about matters of party affiliation. Right and wrong are not political judgments, they are moral judgments and they do not turn by party affiliation, by the fashion of the day or by the issue that is at stake.

Matters of war and peace, abortion, homosexual marriage and how people in a society might arrange themselves in order to live together in peace and security are moral concerns, not political issues. In the world of politics such matters are subject to reckless compromise and are often the focus of shallow (and oftentimes bitter) debates.

The America left has struggled mightily to alter God’s laws, as if God and man were litigants in some celestial court. The struggle has ushered in the coarsening of American culture and it is a brawl man cannot win. Liberals have pursued a false definition of freedom – defining it as “endless autonomy”, but Jesus taught a different lesson. Liberals will often quote Jesus speaking about mercy and forgiveness, and they are integral to His teaching. But Jesus also spoke about, and the Bible contains many references to, God’s judgment and His unwillingness to forever tolerate mankind’s sinful actions. Love and mercy cannot be separated from judgment and justice.

In contemporary America it is conservatives who concern themselves with examining issues through a moral lens. Conservatism has become associated with the Republican Party but that is only because conservatives mostly align themselves with that party. An individual could easily adopt conservative values while remaining unaffiliated with any political party. Moral conduct does not demand an attachment to the Grand Old Party and history shows that linkage to the GOP does not in any way ensure moral conduct.

Abortion is defended by liberal Democrats and opposed by conservative Republicans. But abortion is not wrong because of these political demarcations. When one states a position on abortion he or she is drawing a moral conclusion, not making a political statement.

Unfortunately, Americans are far more comfortable speaking in terms of politics than in terms of morality. Thus, abortion has become trapped in the political thicket. Abortion is morally wrong not because of politics but because among the Ten Commandments is the moral law: Thou shalt not murder. The Ten Commandments is a list of laws that God gave to mankind. They are not severe and capricious edicts handed down by some vengeful god seeking to make life miserable for those beneath him. They are rules that, if followed, would not only connect mankind to its Creator but would enable humanity to inhibit violence and live together in communion with God. The Law is difficult, it is not cruel; it is demanding; it is not unreasonable. The Law demands that we choose sides and make judgments between different things.

Liberals are loath to make judgments even when good and evil are clearly delineated by their actions. Any American acquainted with current events will see there are numerous threats on the horizon and that among the largest and most lethal is the global terrorist network. Domestically, conservatives are working to rally support for the war effort while simultaneously sparring with liberals who believe it is more important to try and twist the defense of America into a political asset rather than make the moral judgment to join in the effort to secure the nation and defeat the enemy.

Elections are about politics; leadership is about moral decision-making. Moral decision-making demands knowledge of God’s law and His authority, not being able to write a political platform or craft a campaign message from a poll. Those are intellectual pursuits. They may guide one down the path to electoral victory but they do not lead a people down the path of moral principle and they offer no insight as to where one should lead after victory is secured at the polls.

America languishes in a prickly briar patch of moral muddle because so many have become obsessed with right and wrong being flexible concepts. The future of America depends upon the willingness of our leaders and ourselves to renounce the politics of partisanship and adopt the politics of conscience. Yes, that demands making a decided turn to the right because the evidence suggests (no, it screams) that the left is wrong.

In his book, “The Case for Faith,” Lee Strobel interviewed philosopher J.P. Moreland regarding the existence of hell. Moreland said, “Hell is the final sentence that says you refused regularly to live for the purpose for which you were made, and the only alternative is to sentence you away for all eternity. So it is punishment. But it’s also the natural consequence of a life that has been lived in a certain direction. …hell is not simply a sentence. …it’s also the end of a path that is chosen, to some degree, in this life right here and now, day by day.”

America must decide what path it will choose. There are two choices: the path of the politics of partisanship or the politics of conscience. Each path leads to very different places. It is time for Americans to stop thinking about political expediency and what they desire – like the right to an abortion – and start making moral judgments about whether or not what they desire is right or wrong. The basis of our political and social evaluations should be whether we are making right decisions, not whether or not we like or dislike something.

It is time for Americans to embrace not only the fluffy virtues of love and kindness but also the hard virtues of justice and honorableness. It is time for Americans to prove they are worthy of their heritage. It is time.

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Joseph Bell has hosted a radio talk show and is a former editorial writer/columnist for several Connecticut newspapers. A former liberal Democrat, Bell has not been on the conservative side of the aisle for very long. He voted for Clinton/Gore in 1992. Abandoning the convictions that he had held and defended through adolescence and into adulthood was not easy. Sincere soul-searching and a commitment to distinguish fact from fiction compelled him to accept that liberal ideology was bankrupt.

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