Posted by
Josiah623 on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 12:40:44 AM
Greetings. My name is
Josiah623, or that’s my pseudonym at least.
Thankyou for reading this inaugural posting to 8th Commandment
Conservative.
Like most blogs, this journal will consist primarily of my
random musings on whatever topic (primarily political) seems most relevant at
any given time. But one might ask why
did I choose to entitle it 8thCommandmentConservative? What does that mean?
The term 8th Commandment Conservative serves to
illustrate two concepts that I believe are at the very core of what is means to
be a conservative: Property Rights and
Values.
The right of a person to own and control their own property
is probably the single most important ideal upon which our Republican form of
government is based. The American
Founding Fathers viewed property not only in the narrow sense as a person’s
land or homestead. Property in the 18th
Century understanding encompassed a person’s land, body, other possessions,
their words or speech, ideas, and beliefs.
The Founding Fathers fashioned a government in which a citizen’s right
to their property was sacrosanct and the state’s powers were very limited. They understood that if people were made
responsible for themselves and what they own, only then would America secure
a more productive and meaningful existence.
An America
in which all of us take care of all of us would be doomed end in poverty and
despotism.
A second key point of 8th Commandment
Conservatism is the idea that personal morality is an indispensable component
of any civil society. The Founding
Fathers are well known (maybe not in academia or the media, but from other
sources) for their comments about how only a moral and virtuous people are
suited for self government. I was struck
some time ago while reading City of God by St. Augustine how big of a concern public
morality was to political philosophers of all times. Simply put, the police can’t be everywhere
all the time. Governments must rely on
people choosing to do well because of conscience (i.e. being moral) most of the
time in order to maintain civil order.
The name 8th Commandment Conservative is also
comes from the belief that our law is based on the laws enumerated in the
Bible. God the Father, through His Son,
Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit as revealed in Bible (not
God “broadly defined”) is the author of Law.
Satan may be the prince of the powers of the air, but Jesus Christ is
King. The laws of our land are only
valid insofar as they conform to God’s perfect Law as revealed in the Old and
New Testaments. A great man, Alan Keyes,
once made a speech for which the punch line was “You cannot have the right to
do what is wrong.” 8th
Commandment Conservative is dedicated to upholding this wise statement.
The 8th Commandment of Exodus 20 is “Thou shalt
not steal.” It presupposes that that
people have the right to own private property.
If no one held a private claim to anything, it would not be possible to
steal from anyone else. Therefore, by
the 8th Commandment, we clearly know God intended for private
property to be respected.
So the name, 8th Commandment Conservative,
describes what the conservative philosophy is about (protecting private
property). And it is a testimony to
where our philosophy comes from (God and the Bible).
If you’re interested in the fight for limited government,
respect for private property rights, and the upholding of Biblical values in
the public arena, check back frequently.
This blog’s for you!