ideas: on government

The Right does love you. Mostly

It is a typical front-page headline from The Australian: ‘Why conservatives really are compassionate’. And no surprises who is making the bold statement: head conservative cheerleader Janet Albrechtsen.

In her continuing campaign to remind us of the great conservative crusade in a time of Rudd and Obama, Albrechtsen writes of the myth – “based on lazy and crude logic” (and Janet is well-versed in that) – that conservatives lack compassion. Pure hearts of gold, in fact – “they just prefer a pragmatic approach”. She writes of the challenge:

“First, to prove wrong the progressive myth that those on the Left have a moral monopoly over compassion. And second, to remind conservatives that they are sometimes their own worst enemy in articulating why their policies produce the best outcomes.”

See, it’s not that the Right doesn’t care, it just doesn’t gloat about it enough. Compassionate and entirely selfless, they are.

“…Conservatives need to do a much better job in the spin and hype department if only to offset those keen to portray us as mean and hard-hearted.”

Tough love, as the headline writer suggests, is a tough sell.

Albrechtsen argues the John Howard version of welfare – rejecting the “overly paternalistic approach of many European countries” in favour of “mutual obligation” welfare – has served the underprivileged better in the long-term. The Left, she says, gets distracted by fashionable causes while ignoring the long-term impact of their “improper motive”.

On this she may have a point. It is true liberals often tackle in-vogue injustice; certainly this needs to be balanced with the “rationality” Albrechtsen says conservatives hold dear.

But her brand of tough love isn’t love at all. At least not the inclusive style of love the Christian Right preaches.

Conservatives love with exception. They love with conditions. Their love is not merely tough, it is exclusive. Their compassion only extends to those they deem worthy of it.

Albrechtsen highlights research pointing to the great generosity of the religious movement. She writes:

“…Religious conservatives in nuclear families are far more generous, giving more to charity than the great pretenders – secular liberals who believe in government entitlement programs.”

I’m sure this is true. But you only have to look to the column beside Albrechtsen’s in today’s paper to see how selective that religious generosity of spirit is. Former Compass producer and theologian Peter Kirkwood writes about the case of Father Peter Kennedy, sacked from his parish by the Brisbane Archdiocese for embracing the people Catholics have banished.

Among the many charges against this devoted priest are that he has displayed a Buddhist statue in his church, and he blesses ‘openly’ gay parishioners. God forbid – which He apparently does. Kennedy’s flock talks of the great good he has done for the poor and disadvantaged around Brisbane, for his religious services which embrace all colours and creeds and sexual identities and personal choices. Hardcore Catholics want him out. No doubt most of the people who attend his church will walk out too.

Consider George W. Bush. For what was a miserable, failed presidency, the bumbling God-botherer has been praised for giving more to the African AIDS cause than any previous administration. Yet he revived the archaic conditions America put on its aid – defeated first by Bill Clinton and now again by Barack Obama – to exclude groups that provide pro-life advice to women. Howard tried something similar during his dark reign in managing pregnancy counselling services – you can have the money, but only if you espouse our moral beliefs.

There are numerous examples of conservatives drawing a pronounced line in the sand when it comes to their compassion. It is the great disconnect on the Right side of policy, the reason churches have failed to engage a new generation of people – the basic tenet of love one another only applies to those that live their righteous lifestyle.

It is love for all – except homosexuals and other sexual identities, except women who have agoniosed over terminating a pregnancy, except for those from religions they don’t tolerate, races they don’t like, choices they don’t understand.

It is the toughest love of all, this conservative brand of compassion. Hard to live up to. Surely, Janet, not true compassion at all.

© 2009 importance of ideas….