To remain a cohesive society, a nation must share a common set of foundational values. An individual does not have to agree or abide by the same values, but they must respect them as a foundational tenant. The challenge today is that the political Left and Right no longer share the same core values. In fact, the Left has come to hold three completely antithetical values to the Right.
The three Core Values of the Right are the ‘F’s: Faith, Family, and Freedom. These are the values upon which the nation was built. The three Core Values of the Left are the ‘S’s: Secularism, Sex, and Subordination.
Faith vs. Secularism: The Right holds the Christian faith as the source of its moral reasoning and system of justice. To the Right, an individual does not need to be a Christian, but they need to respect it as the dominate cultural ethos.
The Left holds secularism as the core theology. They believe an individual has the right to have any faith if its kept private. Religion, and Christianity in particular, must be completely devoid in the public sphere.
Family vs. Sex: To the Right, the family is the primary unit of society. In fact, society’s primary purpose is to protect the family, and the family’s purpose is to raise intelligent and virtuous children to pass along generational knowledge. If the family likened to an atom, then the parents are the nucleus, and sex between husband and wife is the Strong Force that binds the atom together. Human sexuality is the strongest force in nature; if channeled properly it builds civilization. Channeled negatively, it can destroy the world. Therefore, the Right holds the proper role of sex as between a husband and wife within the confines of marriage. An individual in a Right dominated country does not need to be married nor heterosexual, but they must not disrupt the family unit by trying to seduce others away from it, especially children.
Complete sexual autonomy is the most revered dogma of the Left. Sexuality should be unrestrained and unashamed. Any open display of sexuality should be celebrated so long as there is consent amongst all participating parties. In a Left dominated society, you can get married and have children, but marriage and family hold no special social significance. Children are often viewed as a burden in life rather than its primary purpose, and the burden of raising children should fall to the State to ensure that proper societal values are taught.
Freedom vs. Subordination: The Right views the individual as sovereign over the state. The state’s sole purpose is to protect the rights of the individual. In a Right dominant society, individuals may voluntarily subordinate themselves to whatever institutions they desire: A church, a fraternity, a company. However, it must be voluntary and can be undone as desired. Any state program that limits individual choice is viewed with suspicion.
The Left views the individual as subordinate to the State. Because the Left holds secularism as its source of moral authority, the collective good is the supreme good. Their axiom is “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” To them, the State is the manifestation of the collective, or their secular god. Individuals may do as they wish so long as it does not harm the collective good, and often must give up freedoms when the collective good is threatened, (i.e. – terrorism, climate change, global pandemic).
In the past, the Left and Right had vigorous disagreements on issues like tax and monetary policy, immigration volumes, and welfare programs. These disagreements are still there, and they always will and should be. We can be a cohesive country and disagree about these things. But we cannot remain a country while holding diametrically opposite core values. These differences are irreconcilable. It must lead to one of two outcomes: Peaceful separation or complete war and domination.
As Lincoln famously said – “A house divided cannot stand.” During his time the United States split in two because they disagreed upon a single core value: Freedom vs. Subordination (in this case, the most extreme form - Slavery). It led to war, where fortunately freedom prevailed but at the cost of 600,000 lives. If a disagreement on one common value led to war, what chance of unity do we have when we disagree on all three?