What is Left? What is Right?
(in the American Conservative)
by Heather Mac Donald
Upon leaving office in November 2004, Attorney General John Ashcroft thanked his staff for keeping the country safe since 9/11. But the real credit, he added, belonged to God. Ultimately, it was God’s solicitude for America that had prevented another attack on the homeland.
Many conservatives hear such statements with a soothing sense of approbation. But others—count me among them—feel bewilderment, among much else. If God deserves thanks for fending off assaults on the United States after 9/11, why is he not also responsible for allowing the 2001 hijackings to happen in the first place?
Skeptical conservatives—one of the Right’s less celebrated subcultures—are conservatives because of their skepticism, not in spite of it. They ground their ideas in rational thinking and (nonreligious) moral argument. And the conservative movement is crippling itself by leaning too heavily on religion to the exclusion of these temperamentally compatible allies.
Regardless of my own non-Republican tendencies, I did like the above three paragraphs and think both political parties could certainly improve in this area. To me at least, it seems politics should be about rational thinking and good arguments rather than carefully crafted messages designed to appeal to a specific voter base (i.e. the religious right, who everyone seems to want to be in bed with as of late).
There were several other very good points throughout the article denying the necessity of coupling of religion and morality. Once again, these seem like good thoughts for both the Republicans and Democrats to consider.
My only real point of contention:
Conservative atheists and agnostics support traditional American values. They believe in personal responsibility, self-reliance, and deferred gratification as the bedrock virtues of a prosperous society. They view marriage between a man and a woman as the surest way to raise stable, law-abiding children. They deplore the encroachments of the welfare state on matters best left to private effort.
Perhaps. I’m especially unsure of the viewing “marriage between a man and a woman” statement. I have yet to hear a good secular argument against same-sex marriage, and while I’m sure some conservative atheists would oppose it, I’d postulate that most wouldn’t. Perhaps I'm just projecting my liberal atheist views on conservative atheists, though. Any thoughts?
