I’ve been glued to Rod Dreher’s book, Crunchy Cons. It was given to me by a friend who kept recommending it and could tell that I wasn’t going to read it unless he bought it for me. By the way, if you can perfect such a response to all book recommendations, you can get a lot of free books.
I’ll blog more about this book later. It has some killer quotes within.
For starters, here is Dreher’s Crunchy Con Manifesto.
A Crunchy Con Manifesto
By Rod Dreher
1. We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly.
2. Modern conservatism has become too focused on money, power, and the accumulation of stuff, and insufficiently concerned with the content of our individual and social character.
3. Big business deserves as much skepticism as big government.
4. Culture is more important than politics and economics.
5. A conservatism that does not practice restraint, humility, and good stewardship-especially of the natural world-is not fundamentally conservative.
6. Small, Local, Old, and Particular are almost always better than Big, Global, New, and Abstract.
7. Beauty is more important than efficiency.
8. The relentlessness of media-driven pop culture deadens our senses to authentic truth, beauty, and wisdom.
9. We share Russell Kirk?s conviction that “the institution most essential to conserve is the family.”
10. Politics and economics won?t save us; if our culture is to be saved at all, it will be by faithfully living by the Permanent Things, conserving these ancient moral truths in the choices we make in our everyday lives.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
I happen to believe that the institution that is most important to preserve is… Starbucks. But, the family is a close second.
Oh great! another book I am going to want…..
Thanks for the reminder! I’ve just gone to my library’s website and reserved the next available copy. Sounds good.
Horror! We agree on something.
There was a really good article in National Review (I don’t read it, just happened across it) a few years ago about this book or one like it, and they used the term “Granola Conservatives”. I don’t like being placed in any category, but it seemed to fit more than any other.
Far too many well meaning Christians and conservatives have signed on to the dubya bandwagon, which is not particularly Christian, and not particularly conservative. I’m not a liberal by any means, but I do happen to agree that the terms “Christian” and “Conservative” have been hijacked (or was it a hostile takeover?) by those who tend to think that whatever is good for big business is good for people. The economy and lifestyle that has been pseudo-engineered by these people is unsustainable, and I believe we haven’t even begun to see the results it will bring. They will be devastating, in my opinion. I cannot imagine living in our present world without hope in Christ. We are living in Pergamos, the seat of Satan, and Jesus calls us to overcome.
Not to hijack the topic, but how many churches out there have jumped on the “patriotic” bandwagon, equating faith in America with faith in Christ? Here in the Memphis area, the current fad for churches like the baptists (and some of our congregations, even) and others is to constantly preach about America and how it is going down the tubes. Never mind that there are Chinese believers who risk life and limb to meet, we have to warn everyone about the dangerous liberals who want to run the schools… Can things get any more shallow?
“1. We are conservatives who stand outside the conservative mainstream; therefore, we can see things that matter more clearly.”
I have a problem with anyone who claims to see things more clearly then others. I think they are going to try to sell me soft water for my home or light bulbs that never go bad or any number of other fixes and can?t live withouts. Makes some good observations but I could have done without the omnipotent one.
THAT STARBUCKS POST BY TIM SPIVEY IS TOO FUNNY? I WILL SAY OUT LOUD… I AM LIBERAL BY NATURE…… AND HAVE A THOUGHT THAT MIGHT BE WORTH CONSIDERING FOR ALL OF US. THE MAIN MESSAGE JESUS TAUGHT WAS TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS HE LOVED US… THAT I THINK WE CAN AGREE ON. SO, THE BIG ISSUES TAHT HAVE BEEN LABLED CONSERVATIVE OR LIBERAL, ARE IN REALITY… JUST ISSUES… THAT THE WHOLE OF OUR SOCIETY FACES… SO WHY DON’T WE LAY DOWN OUR HATCHES OR AT LEAST TAKE THEM OUT OF EACH OTHER’S BACKS, MEET AT STARBUCKS FOR A GORMET COFFEE. THAT MIGHT IN FACT GET US SOMEWHERE, OTHERWISE… I FEAR OUR LABELED ISSUES ARE GOING TO DO US IN!!!
I think I’d rather be referred to as a crunchy con more than a Lexus liberal, a bobo, and definitely more than a SUV Democrat.