Defining Five of the Pillar Principles of Conservatism

As a Conservative, I am often asked by other Republicans who mean well "Why is it that you Conservatives idolize Ronald Reagan?" Maybe the idolization of Reagan is much of what defines the problem with the Republican Party.  So, when given this chance, instead I look forward to presenting the Pillar Principles of Conservatism and explaining why we should NEVER SETTLE for less than a genuine conservative to represent us.


Much like the Reformed Christian Church, there are bedrock principles on which we, as Conservatives, should NEVER COMPROMISE. In church, when the message is diluted and compromised, the faithful often leave. Similarly, when the Republican Party abandons any of our principles, the message is diluted and the faithful leave, as they feel abandoned, disenfranchised, and no longer led or represented by our leaders. So let's take a look at what we conservatives believe.


Most citizens with any education knows the words in the Declaration of Independence (of the American Colonies from England) that read,  "...Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Yet do we know or understand how they open the door to the Pillar Principles of Conservatism? 


The founding fathers of our country were radical conservatives, leaving their society, family, friends and homelands in order to worship in the way they felt called.  Unsatisfied with the state religion, they found themselves under the equivalent of dhimmitude.  They were often prosecuted as heretics, tried and found guilty by their church and friends in rigged trials orchestrated by failed leaders. Many were put to death or ostracized from society, for even translating the Holy Bible into the language of the common people.  They went elsewhere to be free from persecution, eventually coming to America.  So the freedom to practice (or even not to practice) the religion of your choice or RELIGIOUS CONSERVATISM is a pillar principle of Conservatism.


The founding Conservatives of the Republican Party were radical conservatives.  Although there was a biblical principle of debt, debtors selling themselves and even their families into indentured servitude (slavery because of debt), they believed in freedom.  Based on a higher biblical principle, they understood that GOD sent JESUS into the world to pay our sin debt and set those doomed souls already in slavery and justly sentenced to an eternity in Hell, free through his atoning sacrifice.  Upon HIS death, one of HIS last statements was "It Is Finished!"  We are taught that "It is Finished" is translated from the Greek into English, with the meaning that a monetary debt has been satisfied. In the case of Christ's death, it  meant that our indentured servitude to sin was paid in full.  We were free men, bought at a tremendous cost. Similarly, radical thinkers were convicted by conscience that slavery was a type of dhimmitude, making slaves less than human and more like property.  Men like John Brown hijacked the Federal Armory in Harpers Ferry, Maryland, with an act of Treason that cost them their lives, in an effort to engage the public against the evil of slavery.  While that fight is over, Abortion is the new issue of the day.  You will notice that both of these are Moral Issues, so I include MORAL CONSERVATISM  as a pillar principle of Conservatism.


While we were on the subject of Slavery and indentured servitude, the practice of purchasing something at the cost of your life service to another is considered abhorrent and has been outlawed in America for 150 years. Yet, here we are spending ourselves into oblivion, with no hope of paying down what we owe within our Lifetime, nor our children's lifetime, nor our grand-children's lifetime, nor even our great-grand-children's lifetime. We are indentured servants, having sold our freedom (and that of our children, grandchildren, and great-grand children). In doing so, we either are one of two things; a thief with no moral conscience or an immoral slave trader. Either way, we as a nation have overspent with malice of forethought. The only way to correct this is to live within our means, spend less than we take in, and pay down our debt with the surplus. This used to be called stewardship. It is the basis of FISCAL CONSERVATISM and we must practice this pillar principle of Conservatism as well as preach it.


In order to be Fiscally Conservative, we must cut costs and live within our means. By principle, we must get away from ALL of the places where government does not belong. The Departments of Education and Energy are two departments that we should eliminate immediately, as the Constitution has granted the government no authority to stick their nose into either place.  Other organizations that have run a muck and should be cut are the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Service, and the Federal Reserve Bank. When the Federal Government does only what is authorized in the Constitution and It learns to live within its (our) means, it will necessarily shrink.  Therefore, in advocating living within the budgeted tax income and following what the Constitution of the United States authorizes government to be and do necessarily defines SMALL GOVERNMENT CONSERVATISM as a pillar principle of Conservatism.


Finally, leaving our ancestral home lands and coming to a new land to which many European countries laid claim as colonies, the religious pilgrims, adventurers, businessmen, farmers, and debtors who came to America often had skirmishes.  The Spanish colonized Florida with eyes on taking North America as their Territory.  The French, still smarting after losing the Hundred Years War to England, had visions of colonizing North America starting in the Canadian Maritime Provinces (called Acadia).  Additionally, the English Colonists often had skirmishes with the many native Indigenous Nations.  Before 200 years had passed, since the discovery of North America, the French and the Natives decided to Ally with each other, with the purpose to try to drive the English out of North America.  In the end, the English beat the French, driving them out of Acadia (which was renamed Nova Scotia - New Scotland), but failed to dislodge them from Montreal and what is now Quebec.  The Acadians went to New Orleans becoming the "Cajuns" and lived in the other part of French North America, Louisiana.  Later, rebellious colonists decided that oppressive taxation without representation in the governmental process was not acceptable.  They rebelled against Super Power of the world (at that time) by good fortune of the hand of GOD.  Without the right to defend themselves, they would have been killed many times over by a multitude of Peoples and Nations that were hostile to their cause.  The defense of our selves and our rights was so important that our Founding Fathers codified the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution giving citizens the right to bear arms.  So DEFENSE/2ND AMENDMENT CONSERVATISM, the defense of one's rights and property with deadly force, is a pillar principle of Conservatism.


The statement "...Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness," implies that:

1) We have the right to be free to Worship (or not) as we please.

2) We have the moral right to freedom, because we are not property.

3) We have the right to be free men, not sold into indentured servitude by insurmountable debt.

4) We have the right to demand better stewardship through small government from our elected officials.

5) We have the right to defend our selves, in order to stay alive. 


These are Core and Pillar Principles of Conservatism.