The book definition of conservative is being averse to change or innovation by holding traditional values. Without adding another word, I can visualize the Amish who reside in nearby Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Yet, this term is often used today in the context of politics. Conservatism is a social philosophy promoting traditional institutions in the context of culture and civilization. However, when the media wants to discredit a new member of Congress or an up and coming politician, they are often labeled as “too conservative.”
So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word, Hebrews 10:23.
Instead of debating this stereotype, many individuals labeled as conservative have refused to fight this stigma. Perhaps, people take this comment as a badge of honor. Yet, this acceptance and refusal to defend their position have enabled members of the media to dismiss their opinions as too extreme. Whether planned or unplanned, over the past 40 years being conservative has developed a negative connotation. Subsequently, anyone who holds to biblical commands, principles and views today have been labeled as dangerous, extreme, and radical.
But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast. 22 Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22.
Whenever you fail to engage your adversaries and opponents, you become powerless to change the narrative. Over the last several decades, Christians leaders have either become afraid of sharing their faith or their voices has been silenced by the press. Rather than show these clips on television, more liberal and progressives politicians continues to take their places. Thus, even when a conservative stands up for their beliefs in a concise and strong manner, their comments are conveniently edited and omitted from nightly broadcasts. All of these components have caused being conservative to become a dirty word.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 
It suspect it comes down to the conservative (as opposed to liberal, not progressive) tendency to want to force their cultural and religious/moral ideals on other people, who meanwhile have their own cultural and religious/moral ideals.
Progressives have the same problem, and I suspect terms like progressive and left are dirty words around conservatives too… As well as seemingly literally demonized words (demonized people?) nowadays, with apocalyptic overtones, and a genuinely concerning fervor and paranoia to it all. It genuinely appears to be a mentality quickly growing to be eerily similar to that which led to the rise of the Taliban and ISIL, along with all the back and forth religious wars over the centuries, witch hunts and Medieval stake burnings. and how Late Antiquity Christians tore apart Rome and ushered in the Dark Ages because they thought it was the end of the world… but it wasn’t.
And now conservative Christians seem poised to tear apart the U.S. because they got scared of stuff like evolution, round globes, human rights… It’s genuinely frightening.
I’m glad to see that you’ve been teaching the Bible though, as the U.S. sorely needs more Christians to have literacy in the books of their faith tradition. The ironic thing is the Protestant Reformation was very focused on literacy and education, so that people would know how to read the Bible, and not rely on others to interpret it for them. Having the Bible in English (or German, or whatever their native language) was a hugely important step in acheiving basic familiarity with the scribal texts of the religion. That seems however to have led to further education, which then became a crisis of faith for many people, when they couldn’t reconcile the idea that the world wasn’t created in 6 days, flat and 4-cornered, with a man made out of red dirt, etc., with the idea that there are still things of truth and spiritual value in the religion, and that God isn’t dead, that our souls and God’s grace are still real. So, in the end, a lot of protestants have now been shutting themselves up on an ark and praying for a flood to come and take out the homosexuals and their progressive neighbors who welcomed them…
Anyway, your post is exactly what I have been thinking lately too from the other side of the political aisle.
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Well said! Have a blessed 2024.
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