Yesterday I started a list of convictions I have as a political conservative. I realize that they set me apart from a lot of other political positions that people take in our country — even others who would call themselves “conservative.”

What’s amazing to me is that I haven’t changed that much over the years in my political leanings, even as my understanding of politics has grown. But our culture has changed … a lot. Whereas in my growing up years I would’ve considered myself a center-right conservative, our national culture has moved so far to the left that I’m now considered a far-right, ultra-MAGA bitter clinger extremist by people who probably think they’re the centrists. But my political beliefs have remained pretty stable over the years.

I remember waking up to the grift that Republicans engage in, dialing for donors whenever there was some “crisis” that lent itself to fund-raising. I had finally had enough and told the caller from the RNC that I wasn’t going to donate anything to the GOP until I saw action that matched their words. She protested that they were, in fact, conservative, and I countered by telling her that they weren’t, but that I was, and that “I didn’t leave the Republican party, but the Republican party left me!”

That’s exactly how I feel about my conservatism. I didn’t move right — the country moved left, including the GOP, leaving me on the “far” right.

Fine.

But I won’t compromise my convictions just to keep up with the cool kids who are headed Left.

I believe that at the core of conservatism is the drive to preserve order in society and in personal character.

I believe that a transcendent moral order exists and that humankind thrives when it conforms to that moral order.

I believe that our society has acquired its habits, customs, and conventions over centuries of trial and error and it is arrogant to assume that we somehow “know better” than our ancestors when it comes to morals or politics or taste.

I believe that the rule of law provides a stable and ordered society and that all men stand equally and impartially before the law, the just application of which is dependent on the moral character of the authorities.

I believe that because human beings are irredeemably imperfect (i.e. sinful) there can be no perfect society or system of government and anyone who tells you that utopia is within reach if we just do this is a liar.

I don’t believe a woman can be a man if she just declares that she is.

I don’t believe a man can be a woman if he just declares that he is.

I believe that anyone who believes that cosmetically presenting themselves as something other than their biological sex makes them that thing suffers from severe spiritual and mental corruption.

I don’t believe that biological men should compete in women’s sports.

I believe that the physical mutilation of the human body in service to delusions about biolgical reality is the natural outcome of critical theory and godlessness.

I believe that insisting on your own pronouns and demanding others refer to you with them is an attempt to force compliance with your personal mythology.

I don’t believe that the United States “owes” anyone in any other country access to our prosperity, land or way of life. It was developed by us and should be thoughtfully extended to others only in limited ways that are non-destructive to our culture and society.

I don’t believe that white men are the source of all of society’s ills.

I believe that “diversity,” far from being a strength, fractures our society because we no longer have a shared set of ideals that make us uniquely American.

I believe that like all governments, ours is only as virtuous as the men and women who occupy it.

I believe that our country’s leaders have a moral responsibility to eliminate reckless spending and keep federal spending within our means.

I believe that all men have the right to protect their family and property, with violence if necessary, from anyone who would do them harm.

I believe that entitlement spending creates a welfare class that is dependent on the government and that such an arrangement is detrimental to human flourishing.

I believe that all civil and/or political authority is derivative, being delegated by God through the people to govern according to his will as revealed in scripture.

I believe that the institution of marriage between one man and one woman, for life, is the keystone of the foundational building blocks of a thriving society — the family.

I believe that all men are created in the image of God and that you have never locked eyes with anyone who doesn’t matter to God.

These 21 statements along with yesterday’s 21 is only a partial list of things I believe. What do you believe? What would you add to the list?