Long-Term Prosperity
On February 17, 2010, a group of national leaders met in the library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate in an effort to unify conservatives. On that historic site, they signed the Mount Vernon Statement. The document affirms the urgency for a “restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”
The one-page treatise declares that each of the nation’s “founding ideas is presently under sustained attack.” The signers have decided to counter the attack by “resolutely defending the high ground of America’s founding principles.” How have they elected to defend? They have written a statement of faith, a declaration of dogma, a creed of tenets.
Brilliant strategy! A clearly articulated belief draws a line in the sand. Deception occurs when the truth of what is meant is obscured by vague phraseology and obtuse meanings. Reality is lost when language and meaning are violated. Any person or group who dares to write the meaning and make it plain exposes contrary views and alienates those who embrace opposing ideologies but, conversely, brings to light analogous views and galvanizes those who acknowledge like philosophies. The Mount Vernon Statement is a galvanizing document for Constitutional conservatives.
History records a time in the early church when the Gospel was spreading from Jerusalem into the Greek world. An amalgamation of doctrine occurred when Bible truth and Gnostic dualism blended. Fundamentals were being lost in syncretism. What did the church fathers do? They formulated creeds. They clearly defined their code of belief, which was to function as the reference point in the war of conflicting realities. Creeds such as the Apostles’ and the Nicene have endured throughout the ages as a litmus test to sound Biblical truth.
Constitutional conservatives have embarked on a similar course. They affirm the writings of the framers of the Republic of the United States. They clearly state their purpose, goals, and beliefs. They define what they stand for and what they stand against. The clarion call is clear and it is also divisive. The reader is enraged or encouraged, provoked or pleased, antagonistic or adherent. They outline the exclusivity of their philosophy, which is intellectual integrity, because any system that claims to be the source of truth is implicitly exclusive of contradictory truth.
The Constitutional conservatives have thrown down the gauntlet. Will the progressives and the liberals do the same? Will the varying ideologies be so bold as to write the tenets of their beliefs? What if all camps were to reveal the epistemological moorings upon which the faction is based? Some party members might defect. Those who embrace like-mindedness would increase in unity and momentum. The sect would be strengthened.
The Constitutional conservatives have chosen to chart a future based upon clearly articulated presuppositions. Perhaps they have set the tone for governance in the United States.
Principle: Sustainable organizations or governments must operate and remain committed to constitutions or founding documents, which define the transcendent values and principles of operation, the conditions required to become a citizen of the organization, and participation in its governance, responsibility, and blessing.
For more information on the author, Dr. Patti Amsden, go to: www.pattiamsden.org
