1. Social Conservatism Lecture 5 May 22

2. Deals with Moral Order Right and Wrong Moral and Immoral True and False

3. Moral Order is related to Culture: Identities Behaviors Ideas/ Beliefs Institutions

4. Mechanisms to define Culture Religion (Tradition) Science (Reason) Myths (Intuition, Superstition)

5. Religion, science and myths are the major sources of understanding of the world and the moral order. These “ways of knowing” draw the boundaries that isolate unacceptable people, ideas or actions. (Leege et al. 2003)

6. Conservatives and the Moral Order The moral order is unchanging and objective. Unchanging- it does not change through time. Objective- relevant and true for all times, situations and individuals.

7. Conservatives and the Moral Order Tradition is the most important authoritative sources of knowledge of the moral order according to conservatives.

8. Meaning of Tradition “by trial, by error, by revelation, by the insights of men of genius, mankind has acquired, slowly and painfully, over thousands of years, a knowledge of human nature and of the social order which no one individual can supplant by private rationality.” (Kirk)

9. Why Tradition? Tradition can reveal some of the Truth. Reason is insufficient. Therefore, we must “employ reason in the context of continuing tradition.” (Frank S. Meyer) Tradition does not claim to have a predetermined answer for all problems in all circumstances.

10. Tradition in America Religion: Judeo-Christian and Puritan Philosophy Greco-Roman

11. Problem Modern Liberalism Espouses secularism: threat to Religion Reason (Science): threat to Tradition. Advances the idea of Moral Relativism: threat to the idea that the moral order is objective and unchangeable. Different notion of Human Nature.

12. How Cultural Issues Become Political? Cultural conflict emerges when two “ways of knowing” create different senses of moral order about what people, ideas and actions are acceptable.

13. How Cultural Issues Become Political? Cultural differences become political when people expect citizens and government to serve as mechanisms to further their moral order.

14. Important Distinction Individual Conservatism Social Conservatism

15. What characterizes cultural conflict? Leege et al. (2003) argue that what defines cultural politics is not a set of issues, but the style of argumentation about fundamental social values and group differences. Issues of moral order deal with ends rather than means.

16. The Issues: Abortion Premarital Sex Prostitution Euthanasia Same-Sex Marriage Equal Rights Pornography Secularization Public Sphere Censorship Temperance

17. Why social conservatism? Provides explanation and understanding of social problems. Such explanation allows us to associate them with certain ideas, identities and behaviors. Tradition provides a response to social problems.

18. Choose a Social Problem

19. Find an explanation: Lack of Rule of Law Lenient Laws Dysfunctional Families Natural Instincts

20. Add some findings: All but three of 23 recent studies found some family structure effect on crime or delinquency. Seven of the eight studies that used nationally representative data, for example, found that children in single- parent or other non-intact family structures were at greater risk of committing criminal or delinquent acts. (Todd, Michael, Franke 2000)

21. Make Sense of the Environment: Identities: Criminal (Race or Ethnicity) Single-Mother Behaviors: Alcoholism/Laziness/Violence Divorce/ Parenting/ Sex/ Work Ethic Ideas and Institutions: Protections and Rights Poverty Justifies certain Actions Welfare State

22. Take Action: Create, - Marital Counseling Reform - Supportive Services, Judicial System Outlaw (or disincentive) -Cohabitation or Dismantle Institutions -Welfare State