The Mind of a Conservative Person

What goes on in the mind of a person of liberal persuasion that makes him/her be so tolerant of change?  And, what goes on in the mind of a conservative person that makes him/her so resistant to change?  A liberal-minded person might answer that new ideas and new facts have come to light that make change desirable and warranted.  A conservative-minded person might answer that it was proven long ago that what we have is the truth and that change would be fallacious and disastrous.  Who is right?  This question is on my mind this morning.

Now I would describe myself as generally conservative in my thinking, especially where matters of religion and social behavior are concerned.  I would have to look long and hard at a doctrine that was established as truth a long time ago, especially if this truth was given to us by God himself, before I would be inclined to change.  After all, truth is truth and cannot suddenly become false due to a new way of thinking.  I’m thinking especially of the idea that the Catholic Church is the duly-established earthly guardian of truth as dictated by Jesus Christ himself.  As such, there is no acceptable means or reason for change.  It’s like saying that a mother gave birth to her son/daughter and therefore she is the biological mother of the son/daughter.  That is something that is truth and can never change.

This brings the Reformation to mind.  Christ established his Church and promised to be with us to the end of time.  (See Matt 28:20, John 14:16-17, and John 14:25-26).  Everyone accepted the Catholic Church to be that Church for some 1500 years.  And now (in the 1500s) we have people coming forward to say that this Church got off-track, that Christ broke his promise, and that this new world order is what he really intended.  It seems to me that people began to think that the “rules” that the Catholic Church dictated were too strict and that personal salvation should be considered to be more easily achieved.  Scripture Alone and Faith Alone became the hallmarks of this formal movement of protest, Protestantism.  They said that confessing sins to a priest is not the repentance model intended by Christ.  They said that each individual is free to interpret Sacred Scripture to suit himself/herself.  Yes, they said, eternal salvation is much easier to achieve than has been taught for the past 1500 years.  People fell for it.

Christ warned against heretical teachings such as these.  (See Matt 7:15-16 and Matt 24:24).  He said that false prophets would come forward to refute the true doctrines.  He warned us not to be duped.  He told us, in effect, to be conservative in our thinking where religion is concerned. 

So, that is what has gone on in my mind, the mind of a conservative person who is resistant to change.  The Catholic Church is where the deposit of truth is found and that cannot, and will not, change.  Christ promised this.  My prayer for today:  Lord, please re-establish your truth in the minds of your adopted sons and daughters so that your truth will be believed by all.  Amen.