"A conservative may be defined," said Russell Kirk, "as a person who thinks himself such." This may not seem very helpful but it is true because conservatism, unlike liberalism, is not a systematic political ideology. Indeed, it is not fundamentally political at all though there obviously is a political side to it.

Leftists, on the other hand, believe that "everything is political." That ugly slogan and the even more horrifying, "the personal is political," reflect ideas which conservatives thoroughly reject because we see life from a less political perspective in general. We agree instead with Samuel Johnson who wrote, "How small, of all that human hearts endure, that part which laws or kings can cause or cure!"

A conservative believes, to quote Russell Kirk again, "that there exists an enduring moral order" on which all legitimate political order must be based. Belief in God is not absolutely essential to being conservative but it helps. After all, from what other source could an enduring moral order come?

"Change is the means of our preservation," said Edmund Burke, the father of modern conservatism. Conservatives understand this, but we also understand change to be morally neutral and in need of direction and control. Change in the body politic, as in the human body, is best if it is slow, steady, and integrated into the existing form. Too fast a physical change is often cancerous and can destroy its host. Ditto in society which is why conservatives abhor revolutions.

Liberals blithely speak of "building a new society" as if any such project were not latently totalitarian. But liberals are enamored of socialist policies anyway and generally feel kinship with revolutionary movements. As G.K. Chesterton noted, however, in order to effectively "reform" one must first appreciate "form." This is difficult for those who view "change" as a battle cry.

Conservatives are skeptical about the labels "progressive" (oh, sadly abused word!) and "revolutionary." These are related because of the ideological thread that runs through the full spectrum of left-wing thought from the most benign to the most vicious. That thread, that kinship, is a presumption in favor of government. Leftists of all stripes assume that government necessarily does things better than individuals or groups which is why Fr. Richard John Neuhaus was correct when he said, "communism is liberalism in a hurry." There is no such common thread in conservatism.

Conservatives understand that those who came before us already have asked all of the same questions that we have asked about human existence. We are foolish to dismiss their answers as irrelevant to modern times as if we have special insights simply by virtue of having been born later. Conservatives value traditions because it makes sense to give our predecessors the benefit of the doubt.

"Don't ever take a fence down," Chesterton said, "until you know the reason it was put up." This is why conservatives readily look to history for guidance while liberals often bemoan "the dead hand of the past." Daniel Webster called it "ascending to an association with our ancestors." Burke understood the connection between past, present, and future to be the basis of "ordered liberty," the only meaningful kind.

As the saying goes, "old books, old sweaters, old wine, and old friends are the best" so conservatives are happily "old fashioned." And all we really need do is consider the vulgar and tawdry state of American popular culture to realize that change is not necessarily progress. Is "The New Normal" really an improvement over "Father Knows Best?"

Conservatives understand that political decisions often are moral decisions. How could they not be? Thus, in our political preferences, we strive to make clear the connection between western civilization and the enduring Judeo-Christian moral order that underlies it. For that, we are called knuckle-dragging religious bigots and other charming names. But no matter. Conservatives are, so to speak, right.

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