>>this is a thread about
Au Contaire. Your assertion was that this thread was about:
“and as conservatives, how we can keep it from destroying us and our goals as conservative”
Did you mean - Our goals as American conservatives - or “our” goals as Religious / Catholic Theocratic statist "conservatives"?
Maybe (before you perch yourself upon the temple steps and set about the bidness of manipulating folk's vote based upon their faith, which may or may not be the temporal product of individuals, “who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others”) you ought to revisit what AMERICAN conservatism was all about in the first place - by comprehending and CONSERVING the ideals articulated in The Virginia Act for Establishing RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
THAT would seem to be the American CONSERVATIVE thing to do.
LOL, good night, and good luck with your ramblings and whatever meds you are taking, or are supposed to be taking.
When people speak of leftism, they are usually referring to economic leftism (which makes a people poor), political leftism (which enslaves a people), and social leftism (which robs a people of moral standards and artistic discernment).
There is, however, another form of leftism-one that is rarely called by its name. This is theological leftism, and it may be the worst of them all, as it leads one away from God while insisting on its own superiority to “outdated tradition.”
Now, we know that all leftism is of and from Satan. We observe how the proponents of leftism lie constantly, attempt to deceive, coerce those who won’t be deceived, and extol the tolerance of evil—including abortion, divorce, sodomy, promiscuity, and even mass murder. This is true as well of theological leftism. It seeks to foment disobedience to God by appeal to a “more modern,” and therefore superior, “understanding” of the Bible.
When we seek to discern whether a given premise or movement is theologically leftist, then, we can look for several telltale characteristics.
1. Does it claim an understanding of Scripture that is superior to what existed before?
2. Do its proponents rely extensively on falsehood when discussing differences?
3. Do its proponents engage in coercion, either inside our outside their own group?
4. Does it claim the moral superiority of the tolerance of evil, particularly that which allows the indulgence of the sin of lust (divorce, sodomy, promiscuity, etc)?
5. Above all, does it countenance the slaughter of the most innocent?
There are theological leftists within the Catholic Church, yes, but because its foundations are solid, they have been unable to bring it down. It appears that evil within the Church has reached its high-water mark, and is receding, laus Deo.
One need not look far to find churches that are totally under the sway of the five telltales listed above, and some within them display one more characteristic of theological leftism: blind, irrational hatred of the Catholic Church. When such people attempt to criticize the Church, they do so with all the hatred, illogic, and dishonesty shown by any other sort of leftist.
It is worth noting that one can be a theological leftist while retaining conservative beliefs in the economic and political realms. Whether such a person is or is not “a conservative” I don’t propose to say.