(July 16, 2015 at 7:02 pm)Cephus Wrote:(July 16, 2015 at 3:16 pm)Dystopia Wrote: Thanks for the info. Conservatism entails conserving something, usually some principles, tradition, economic policies, etc - It is also linked with prudence and caution and skepticism of arbitrary change. Being a conservative depends on what country you live in. In Britain conservatism is tied with things like royalty and monarchy, in France with French tradition and French values and the French revolution (naturally).
True, but the one thing that conservatism has nothing to do with is religion, but that's the one thing that everyone seems to think characterizes American conservatism. They're just wrong.
Conservatism has a lot to do with religion because it entails preserving your culture, and your culture is inevitably influenced by religion - Even if you're against religion, you're probably very influenced by the predominant one and its ideas. It is inevitable. Laws are based on morality, usually the majority's morality - Morality itself is influenced by religion even if most "devout" atheists don't want to admit it - This isn't to say you need to be religious to be a conservative, but to say conservatism isn't influenced by religion is naive - It has something to do with religion because it promotes tribalism and a continuum of moral values. IMO, anti-theism and conservatism are fundamentally incompatible.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
