We, the conservatives, are not divided because each conservative faction believes so much, so strongly, so assertively, that we cannot possibly stand together. We are divided because the ties of principle, which have held us together, have now dissolved. We are divided because we now can have no confidence that other conservatives believe what we do, in the wake of the failure of many alleged conservatives to stand up for those beliefs and put them into effect.
Most of what is stated by the Twelve Points has been said before, at some point, but memories have faded, and most of us have “joined the program already in progress.” We have to affirm, from time to time, that this really is what we believe, or we will wander too far away from it.
We have factions in practice, right now, but the conservative philosophy itself is still fairly united. Most of the real conservatives who I know (which does not include those who arbitrarily categorize themselves without really knowing what they are talking about) hold many uniting beliefs. When they ignore some of these principles, it is not necessarily because they actually disagree with them -- the principles still appeal to them. Sometimes, I am convinced, they abandon some of the principles because those principles have assumed a lower profile and fallen out of circulation.
We can restore the ties that helped to hold the movement together! These principles are right, of course. By reviewing and remembering them now, we will restore what conservatives had in common, thereby contributing significantly to the reunification of the conservative movement.
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