Reclaiming 'conservative'

Interestingly, in view of my previous post, Father Jake had just posted a very interesting article by Teresa Mathes, the wife of the Bishop of San Diego. From her own conservative perspective, she wants to make it very clear that the actions of the militant ‘conservatives’ in the church don’t represent historic conservatism.

I was raised by conservatives. In Southern California, where I now live, this is rather like saying you were raised by wolves. But I like to think the people who raised me did a good job: they gave me a strong sense of family and of community obligation; they taught me to respect social institutions. Conservatives, my mother often said, valued what was best in society and tried to preserve it. She abhorred mob tactics, half-truths and secrecy. ‘If you have to hide it,’ she’d say, ‘You shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.’...
when the groups began to distinguish themselves by their actions, I was astonished to see those actions labeled ‘conservative.’ For instance, both the AAC and the ACN attack the idea of gay marriage as a violation of orthodoxy, yet they enforce no position on divorce, even among their own clergy…As a social institution, the American family is far more endangered by divorce and its attendant poverty than by monogamous gay couples. Trust me, I was there…
This is where the AAC and ACN fall farthest short in my view. The Internet now bristles with memos leaked to the press or uncovered during lawsuits that reveal a common theme: threats to “separate,” plans to secure church property, commitments to “realignment” and to “guerrilla warfare.” There is nothing preservationist in this behavior, and it is especially repugnant for its air of secrecy and deceit…
The conservatives I know would be ashamed of such behavior. I know I am.

As she titles her article: Don’t call them conservatives.

pax et bonum

Article posted at 7:50pm on 03 August 2006
Category: Faith, Links