Thoughts on the Left and the Right
On the Destructive Nature of the Left and the Proper Response of the Right
I read an article today that described the fundamental nature of the Left as 'negative,' i.e. opposed to things, typically the historic status quo. I think I would go further than that and say that the Left is fundamentally destructive / de-constructive and characterized by the desire to create disorder (more quickly than entropy disorders things in a fallen world). Over time, the immediate causes will change and adjust, according to the soft spots or easy gains that present themselves to this philosophy. This explains why the cause of the day has shifted from sexual and reproductive 'freedom' to political correctness to LGBTQ-alphabet soup to wokeness to antisemitism to...whatever will come next.
This is very negative, I admit; however, I am not especially charitable about my understanding of the Right as it is currently understood and exemplified.
The Right, it seems to me, is also characteristically 'negative' but in a different way. Instead of being focused on the destruction of the current state of things, the Right generally defines itself by being against the Left. It seems very rare to me, indeed, that anyone on the Right actually puts forth a genuinely positive position that is not a reaction to something the Left has already tried to destroy (e.g. being 'pro-life').
Understood this way, it is clear that the general, 'big picture,' macro drift of a society will NEVER be anything but to the Left. It will always drift leftward over time if the Right is not genuinely FOR ideas but reacts only against the destruction attempted by the Left. The Right, in this paradigm, is also fundamentally negative. Both sides work together to move a society, at greater or lesser speeds over time, toward self-destruction and societal suicide.
This is Satanic and demonic, full stop. If you don't believe me, think back on the just the last two hundred years of world history.
That this view is correct is self-evident if we pause and reflect on the positions currently held by the Right in the United States that are FAR left of positions held by the Left even less than a century ago. Contrast the views of Donald Trump on abortion or same sex marriage with Bill Clinton—who is more to the Left? Compare the theological views of 'conservative' churches today on female clergy or premarital sex with mainline churches of 50 years ago—who is more to the Left?
The Right, as it operates today, is a retardant to leftward motion rather than a genuinely creative or positive agent acting in society. To recover a truly positive influence, the Right must define itself by what it supports and not by what it is against, AND it must stop repeatedly conceding ground and drifting left itself.
Said positively, the Right (i.e. “Conservatives”) must stop trying to conserve things and start trying to recreate and restore them according to the Word of God and His intention for individuals and society.
Instead of the Right being 'conservative' it must be 'restorational.'
We ought not be trying to simply slow down society's movement to the left but restoring God's intended order, beliefs, and practice.
Who is up for such a monumental task? Certainly none of the political class or academia. It must come from God's people individually, who themselves are recreated and restored, and corporately, as the Body of Christ.
It will not come from anywhere else. Indeed, it cannot.