{"id":1006,"date":"2014-01-03T19:52:59","date_gmt":"2014-01-04T00:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=1006"},"modified":"2014-01-03T19:52:59","modified_gmt":"2014-01-04T00:52:59","slug":"how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html","title":{"rendered":"How “Conservatives” Aid and Abet the Left"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, January 3, radio talk show host Mike Gallagher charged NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden with being a \u201ctraitor\u201d while accusing those of his conservative minded listeners who disagreed with thinking like leftists. <\/span><\/p>\n

Self-avowed \u201cconservatives,\u201d like Gallagher, are, at best, morally confused.\u00a0 At worst, they\u2019re intellectually dishonest. Either way, whether they realize it or not, they are accomplices to the left\u2019s efforts to \u201cfundamentally transform\u201d Western culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of <\/i>one\u2019s opinions of Snowden the man, the fact remains that he succeeded in calling the nation\u2019s attention to a massive <\/i>government surveillance program to which most Americans would have otherwise remained oblivious, a program that enables the government to collect information on citizens while bypassing the Fourth Amendment.\u00a0 That this gargantuan apparatus\u2014the emblem par excellence <\/i>of just the sort of omnipotent government that our Founding Fathers envisioned with dread, just the sort of liberty-crushing central authority that the Constitution was ratified to preclude\u2014exists, ostensibly, for \u201cour own good,\u201d is neither here nor there. <\/span><\/p>\n

That it<\/i> exists <\/i>is, or at least should be, troubling enough for any lover of liberty. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Even if, per impossible, the NSA never abused its awesome powers, even if it had a perfect track record of thwarting terrorist attacks, that it could <\/i>deploy its resources to violate the privacy of American citizens is alone sufficient to paralyze the liberty lover with the fear that his government has betrayed the dream and promise of his forefathers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The true lover of liberty knows that of which the Framers of the Constitution needed no reminding: there is no such thing <\/i>as liberty.\u00a0 <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are only liberties.\u00a0 <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, these liberties are but the flip side of the duties <\/i>that our Constitution imposes upon the government\u2014<\/i>the federal, <\/i>as opposed to a national, <\/i>government. <\/span><\/p>\n

By way of its many \u201cchecks and balances,\u201d the Constitution of the United States codifies a complex set of political arrangements that severely limits both the authority <\/i>and the power <\/i>of the government.\u00a0 Its Bill of Rights was intended to further immunize the citizen against potential abuses of his government. <\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly, it is Gallagher and company, not their conservative rivals, who are guilty of allying with the left.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, there is no getting around the stone-cold fact that the term \u201cBig Government\u201d applies to nothing if it doesn\u2019t apply to the NSA\u2019s surveillance system.\u00a0 In other words, no one can credibly claim to oppose \u201cBig Government\u201d who isn\u2019t profoundly troubled by the existence of the NSA. \u00a0That Gallagher and his ilk not only support the NSA, but enthusiastically <\/i>support it, proves that they are just as <\/i>prone to Big Government as are Barack Obama and his fellow partisans who also defend the NSA. <\/span><\/p>\n

Second, Gallagher reiterated today that we remain in a war.\u00a0 <\/i>Note, as long as self-styled \u201cconservatives\u201d insist that we are in a \u201cwar\u201d on \u201cterror\u201d or \u201cterrorists,\u201d they would have us all think that we are in a war without end. <\/i>\u00a0Such a notion, infinitely more so than any other, invites endless government growth: nothing is more amenable to Big Government than war.<\/span><\/p>\n

This \u201cWar<\/i> on Terror\u201d that Gallagher and his colleagues unfailingly invoke whenever the government\u2019s endeavors to \u201ckeep us safe,\u201d however constitutionally suspect these endeavors may be, are brought into question is music to the ears of Big Government leftists like Obama.\u00a0 Under the pretext of \u201cnational security,\u201d Obama, or any other champion of Big Government, can justify, or try to justify, virtually anything.\u00a0 <\/i>As we\u2019ve seen, this has already happened with the NSA itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

This should come as no surprise to anyone who already distrusts Big Government.\u00a0 Think about it: with the exception of anarchists, everyone else accepts that among the legitimate functions of government, providing for the national defense ranks at the top of the list. Furthermore, everyone knows that government has a propensity to perpetuate itself.\u00a0 Thus, what better way for office holders at the federal level to strengthen and enlarge the federal government than by having everyone else believe that there is a state of perpetual war? <\/span><\/p>\n

Neither the conservative movement nor the Republican Party promises to make any gains as long as its representatives fail to recognize two things.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, Americans long ago grew cold on their \u201cwar on terror,\u201d an interminable government exercise in the social engineering of foreign lands that has already come at the cost of far too much blood, treasure, and liberty.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Second, exactly because of the inexhaustible expansion of the scope and power of the national government that this \u201cwar\u201d requires, these voices for \u201cconservatism\u201d and the GOP are actually doing much of the left\u2019s work for it as they empower the government further by supplying a catch-all rationale for the project to \u00a0\u201cfundamentally transform\u201d America. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday, January 3, radio talk show host Mike Gallagher charged NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden with being a \u201ctraitor\u201d while accusing those of his conservative minded listeners who disagreed with thinking like leftists. Self-avowed \u201cconservatives,\u201d like Gallagher, are, at best, morally confused.\u00a0 At worst, they\u2019re intellectually dishonest. Either way, whether they realize it or not,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow "Conservatives" Aid and Abet the Left<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How "Conservatives" Aid and Abet the Left\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Friday, January 3, radio talk show host Mike Gallagher charged NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden with being a \u201ctraitor\u201d while accusing those of his conservative minded listeners who disagreed with thinking like leftists. Self-avowed \u201cconservatives,\u201d like Gallagher, are, at best, morally confused.\u00a0 At worst, they\u2019re intellectually dishonest. Either way, whether they realize it or not,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-04T00:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jack Kerwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How \"Conservatives\" Aid and Abet the Left","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How \"Conservatives\" Aid and Abet the Left","og_description":"On Friday, January 3, radio talk show host Mike Gallagher charged NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden with being a \u201ctraitor\u201d while accusing those of his conservative minded listeners who disagreed with thinking like leftists. Self-avowed \u201cconservatives,\u201d like Gallagher, are, at best, morally confused.\u00a0 At worst, they\u2019re intellectually dishonest. Either way, whether they realize it or not,…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html","og_site_name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","article_published_time":"2014-01-04T00:52:59+00:00","author":"Jack Kerwick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html","name":"How \"Conservatives\" Aid and Abet the Left","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-01-04T00:52:59+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-04T00:52:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/6832222998cc14717ded1849531201c5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2014\/01\/how-conservatives-aid-and-abet-the-left.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How “Conservatives” Aid and Abet the Left"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/","name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Jack Kerwick","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/6832222998cc14717ded1849531201c5","name":"Jack Kerwick","description":"I have a Ph.D. in philosophy from Temple University, a master's degree in philosophy from Baylor University, and a bachelor's degree in philosophy and religious studies from Wingate University. I teach philosophy at several colleges in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jackkerwick.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/author\/jkerwick"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1007,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions\/1007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}