Liberals and conservatives are waging, it seems to me to the bitter end, a constant debate about the role of government. Conservatives generally do not trust government and want to see it decreased. Such conservatives often call the other side a bunch of socialists while Liberals say the conservatives are heartless and greedy business owners. “Conservatives do not care about the poor or the well-being of society,” they tell us.
Last year I heard a noteworthy conservative say that the problem with most conservatives is they end up turning modern government into a “private sector bidding war.” The result, he added, was that they gave us: “Government by entrepreneurship.” That was one of the most honest reflections on the dangers of conservative views of modern government that I’ve heard. One can hope that both sides would learn to see their own weaknesses and then learn how to work for the common good. So far I’ve not seen much of this since the 1970s. I’m not holding my breath but I am hoping for better leadership, eventually.
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Within Christian thinking along this divide I would suggest the division is perpetuated by our views of redemption. If we see redemption nearly exclusively as redemption of individuals we will be Conservatives with a Libertarian bend. If we see redemption as redeeming humanity and creation as well as individuals there will be a belief in the redemption of collective human institutions like government. Of course on each side there are inconsistencies. Conservatives tend to praise corporations created by the free market while Progressives distrust free markets like Conservatives distrust government.
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