An Open Letter to Conservatism

You’ve let me down. As a Christian who attended Biola University and listened to Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, Rush Limbaugh, Alan Keyes, and others, I’m disappointed.

Growing up, we condemned Bill Clinton calling for his impeachment because he lied under oath about sex. We argued that his actions and his character disqualified him from being President.

In the age of Trump, we started out well enough, honestly assessing his character, recognizing that he too was unfit for office on a number of grounds, not the least of which was his disrespect for others, his flirtations with violence and racism, his childish bullying and name-calling, etc.

However, something along the way changed. He was, to my shock, not only nominated but eventually elected. Then he was defended by the same people who previously attacked him. Then, four years later, American’s believed him, against all verifiable evidence, that the election was “rigged” and “stolen.” And they kept believing him, in part, because the very same conservative voices I grew up listening to (Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Newt Gingrich, Ken Starr, Rudy Giuliani) reiterated his lies and accusations. They defended him, often in the face of the evidence.

As a Christian, truth matters. Character matters. Fairness matters. Charity matters. Overstatement, slander, personal attacks and demonization of the other side is harmful, and that goes for whether the “other side” for you is the Democrats or the Republicans.

Oversimplification is also harmful. Calling people “socialists” and “Marxists” to denigrate them without listening to the heart of their argument over an issue is unnecessarily divisive and dismissive. Excusing and downplaying inconsistent behavior, hypocrisy, childish behavior, etc., on the part of conservative politicians and pundits erodes the foundation of integrity that I thought was — and continue to argue is — essential to the conservative movement, but is now treated as dispensable by too many of those in positions of power and influence.

We should, at the very least, have the honesty to admit to ourselves that maybe we don’t care about these “principles” in the manner that we thought we did, but, rather, are too ready to abandon them for political expediency if it means we get our way. (I realize that is a bold claim, but I believe we need to give it some real thought.)

I am thankful that I am not alone in being appalled at the extremes to which Republicanism and Conservatism have gone in service to Donald Trump. Some conservatives seem to have been willing to “call it as they see it” from day one and have retained their integrity by not wavering in the face of short-term political gain, power, popularity, and ratings. Among them I count Mitt Romney, David French, John Kasich, Bill Kristol, the Bush family, the late John McCain, Russell Moore, and others.

Some of these men and women have refused to waiver precisely because of their Christian (or, in the case of Romney, Mormon) faith. I urge my fellow Christians, especially those who see an overlap between their values and political conservatism, to re-evaluate their participation in pop-conservatism and the ease with which they are prone to fall into its rhetorical trappings. (And I’m thankful for those who have already done so based on this weeks events.)

Some resources to aid in the journey:

The Holy Post Podcast (Phil Vischer, Skye Jethani, et al.) — https://www.holypost.com/

The And Campaign — https://www.andcampaign.org/

The Atlantic — https://www.theatlantic.com/

The Dispatch (David French, Jonah Goldberg, et al.) — https://thedispatch.com/

The Bulwark (William Kristol, Charlie Sykes, Amanda Carpenter, et al.) — https://thebulwark.com/

The News with Shepard Smith (CNBC; weeknights 7pm ET) — https://www.cnbc.com/the-news-with-shepard-smith/

How To Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR8V850/

Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey & Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies by David T. Koyzis — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830852425/