"Participants spoke about the state of the Republican Party and the future of the conservative movement. They spoke about a number of issues including the philosophical roots of conservatism, economic and social policy, and building outreach programs.
The title of the 2009 Bradley Symposium, sponsored by the Hudson Institute, was "Making Conservatism Credible Again."
A transcript is found here.
I was impressed with Rich Lowry, the youthful editor of National Review. His concluding remarks were as follows:
As conservatives,we have to believe that reality is on our side at the end of the day. We believe three things, if you want to boil them down:
(1)The market is the best way to allocate capital.
(2)The world is a dangerous place that requires a toughmindedness in confronting it.
(3)And three, you can’t have a healthy society without traditional social structures and without virtue.
And we don’t believe these things because they’re convenient or popular. They’re not always popular or convenient. We believe them because they are true, and because they are true, they will be vindicated. Eventually.
I was really pleased to hear them all speak in favor of our traditional social institutions, including strong families and the value of virtue.
Columnist Mona Charen was present and asked about the problem of 40 per cent of children being raised in single-parent homes --and how that affects culture and the future.
A response to her question by MITCH DANIELS:
Mona, first of all, you have – as you have for a long time – directed us to the number one social
problem facing the country. I tell audiences in my state – of all kinds, all the time – that if they gave me the proverbial wand, my one wish would be that every child in our state grow up in an intact family to the age of eighteen, in which
case every social pathology that tears at our hearts would diminish dramatically. We all know this.
Even after age 18, divorce of parents is traumatic for the kids and poverty-causing for women, especially --though the economic damage to divorcing men can also be considerable.
I was encouraged to see that the conservatives of the think tanks are not about to give up on their ideals as they have been encouraged to do. They don't see that conservatives need to change --though they haven't been pleased with the GOP for its waffling and weaknesses when it comes to defending core conservative principles--as they seek to widen their tent.
It will take education --better education--to teach the next generation the values of conservative --and Christian ideals.
Christian educators need to do a better job. I was astounded to hear this weekend that a certain church college even has a gay dorm. Obviously the Bible means very little to such a church-school in these days.
However, Jodi, a commenting blogger here says my source is inaccurate, since she works at that school. I'm relieved. My source was credible with connections to that church and college, but evidently had wrong info as to official dorm policy--I called the college also and they denied having any gay dorms. But I discuss in the comments below another concern I have regarding so-called Christian college dorm policies which that college DOES have.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
