I find myself challenged by exactly this a lot lately, as I encounter plenty of people with fixed opinions who for one reason or another feel empowered to denigrate any attempts to bring about a revolution of the heart.
just the other day, I made some comments about gay bullying and suicide that got sneered at. The tragic part was that the person sneering is himself a gay man; apparently he wants to live in denial that suicide and bullying are still big problems.
It's very hard to talk to such people. Even when you feel compassion for them, if not for their positions, their refusal to melt their hearts is shocking. Is "compassionate conservative" an oxymoron, or is there in fact room in everyone's hearts for finding compassion?
It strikes me that Dorothy Day's revolution of the heart is so profound that it could bring so many of us together. Yet it is apparently so frightening, so radical, to some, that they will resist it mightily.
I would think that, properly understood, the phrase "compassionate conservative" would be redundant. Does not the urge to conserve derive from compassion?
Well, you might think so, but in practice the urge to conserve is often less altruistic than that. It's frequently quite self-centered—and that's where the oxymoron (rather than the redundancy) often steps in.
That's not to say you're at all wrong in theory—I would like to agree with you—and observation and experience seem to indicate otherwise.
Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI find myself challenged by exactly this a lot lately, as I encounter plenty of people with fixed opinions who for one reason or another feel empowered to denigrate any attempts to bring about a revolution of the heart.
just the other day, I made some comments about gay bullying and suicide that got sneered at. The tragic part was that the person sneering is himself a gay man; apparently he wants to live in denial that suicide and bullying are still big problems.
It's very hard to talk to such people. Even when you feel compassion for them, if not for their positions, their refusal to melt their hearts is shocking. Is "compassionate conservative" an oxymoron, or is there in fact room in everyone's hearts for finding compassion?
It strikes me that Dorothy Day's revolution of the heart is so profound that it could bring so many of us together. Yet it is apparently so frightening, so radical, to some, that they will resist it mightily.
I would think that, properly understood, the phrase "compassionate conservative" would be redundant. Does not the urge to conserve derive from compassion?
ReplyDeleteWell, you might think so, but in practice the urge to conserve is often less altruistic than that. It's frequently quite self-centered—and that's where the oxymoron (rather than the redundancy) often steps in.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say you're at all wrong in theory—I would like to agree with you—and observation and experience seem to indicate otherwise.