CONSERVATIVE PRAGMATISM

No one in this world can live without having an opinion on something. The question becomes whether our opinion is correct or not. To have a correct opinion means having a standard that is correct. This means God’s law. It is the only standard that is straight and correct. By definition, everything else is crooked and incorrect. When man rejects God’s law, he becomes an idolater and his opinion becomes to what he believes is the best course of action.

Pragmatism recognizes no supreme law. The law is whatever someone wants it to be at the time or circumstances. The pragmatist does nothing based upon principle because principles are spiritual. To the pragmatist all truths are the same. Two conflicting opinions are both valid. Circumstances determine which opinion to follow, not unchanging principles. The pragmatist does not believe in absolutes but will use absolutes, if he can gain an advantage from it.

Such is the case with John McCain. He is the consummate pragmatist. McCain’s pragmatism is clear in his choice for Vice President, Sarah Palin. McCain does not appeal to the conservatives and Christian base of the Republican Party. This is because he is more of a Democrat than Republican policy wise. He knew that his running mate needed to be someone who had strong Christian and conservative values.

Sarah Palin’s values are anti-abortion and pro-gun. She believes that evolution should not be taught in the government schools. She believes in creation. While these beliefs are important, her beliefsare not why I am disappointed with McCain’s choice. When I heard who he had chose, I felt completely let down and was mildly disgusted. I know that McCain’s decision is totally pragmatic and this decision just confirms what should have been apparent from the beginning. A tiger cannot change its stripes.

McCain is trying to make himself something that he is not, palatable to the conservatives who are the most important members of the Republican Party. The headline from the POLITICO reads, "Palin electrifies conservative base." This is predictable because most people are not principle based in their thinking, but visibly motivated. She does not electrify me at all. I will vote and I vote according to principle, not based upon the person running for office.

The reason why I oppose McCain’s choice is that a woman is not to have authority over a man. Anyone who is familiar with the Bible knows that the man is head in the family and bishops are men who are assigned to rule in the Church. Since God created the world and He is sovereign and he assigned men the responsibility of being ruler under Him, then men should also be rulers in the civil government, not women. This is not a woman’s place.

The argument comes from exceptions in the Bible where women were given rulership in extraordinary situations, usually from a lack of male leadership. Exceptions are not the rule, they just prove the rule. We are to follow rules, not exceptions. Isaiah 3:12 sums up the fact that we are in a time devoid of true spiritual leadership, "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."