The truth is non-partisan

Dear Andrew Sullivan,

I listened to your speech tonight at Northwest Missouri State University. Perhaps you were successful in reaching me with your message. I left doubting and uncertain about your message.

You say the basis of true conservatism is doubt. True conservatives recognize that nothing is certain. The key point of Adam Smith is doubt. No single person is smart enough to predict the needs and want of society. By the time you finally know what society wants, it has already changed. No government or bureaucrat can predict what people want. The socialist works on the basis that he knows best; however, he is always wrong. When socialists try to control the economy they fail. On the other hand, when individual decisions filter through the market place it’s the wise one. People know better how to run their own lives. The nature of human beings is that we are fallible. No one knows everything. If we despise decisions, we are less likely to make mistakes.

Here are some other things you said. In America no one can be that certain, you say. The main achievement of a society built on deadlock and in action is to do nothing at all. In a government that is at war with itself it is better to do nothing than something wrong. The US constitution established a government based on doubt, that can’t do anything at all except protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The 50 states and three branches of government are constantly reviewing each others decisions. Doubt is central to the maintenance of freedom.

War empowers governments. Reluctance to go to war is the mark of a conservative government. If we can’t understand our own country, how can we understand a foreign land? As soon as we understand it, it changes. The world is dynamic. The wise course is not to control the world. Deter threats to protect ourselves, but never remake the world.

Edmund Burke in his essay “Reflections on the revolution in France” Even before the reign of terror when Burke heard people knew for sure what France needed, he knew the Revolution was doomed. No one truly knows; they think they know. They maybe well intentioned, but history is full of examples of how people do the worst things for the best reasons.

Faith in a doctrine tells everything one needs to know about the world. Religions impulse is to certainty and truth. Religious people know for sure from God what they are doing is right. In the Inquisition when they were burning heretics, they thought the flames were finally converting them into believing the truth. They were not killing them but rather saving them. When religion leads to imposing faith it’s not for their own good; it’s not really faith. You can see the intolerance. If it’s in the Bible, then it can’t be compromised. The correct approach is not certainty; it’s humility.

You say the founders took God out of politics. The Constitution was not dedicated to God; it was dedicated to freedom. They saw what certainty did to societies. The constitution doesn’t allow political power in one person. The president presides, not decides.

In Iran and in some parts of Afghanistan, you can see what religion does to society. Religious ideology can lead to a logic that sanctions murder.

I’m left doubting what you said because I believe there are some certainties. The US Constitution is based on certainties. The Constitution was based on correct principles. Joseph Smith said, “I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.” If we follow those correct principles outlined in the Constitution, we will be able to make good decisions. Correct principles take the doubt out of decision making.

For example, because I understood what Washington said in his farewell address, I knew that going into Iraq was wrong. The US never would have gone into Iraq if Congress was following the Constitution. The Congress would not have let the President make the decision to go to war for them.

As I look through what you said, and put aside the many abstractions, I can see that you have set forth a number of principles. One is that decisions are best made at the local level. Individual decisions filtered through the marketplace lead to good decisions. Questioning helps assure good decisions are made. You are not as uncertain about things as you would have us believe.

// posted by John Fisher @ 11:48 PM