From “Ten Conservative Principles” by Russell Kirk
“...Tenth, the thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society. The conservative is not opposed to social improvement, although he doubts whether there is any such force as a mystical Progress, with a Roman P, at work in the world. When a society is progressing in some respects, usually it is declining in other respects. The conservative knows that any healthy society is influenced by two forces, which Samuel Taylor Coleridge called its Permanence and its Progression. The Permanence of a society is formed by those enduring interests and convictions that gives us stability and continuity; without that Permanence, the fountains of the great deep are broken up, society slipping into anarchy. The Progression in a society is that spirit and that body of talents which urge us on to prudent reform and improvement; without that Progression, a people stagnate.
Therefore the intelligent conservative endeavors to reconcile the claims of Permanence and the claims of Progression. He thinks that the liberal and the radical, blind to the just claims of Permanence, would endanger the heritage bequeathed to us, in an endeavor to hurry us into some dubious Terrestrial Paradise. The conservative, in short, favors reasoned and temperate progress; he is opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.
Change is essential to the body social, the conservative reasons, just as it is essential to the human body. A body that has ceased to renew itself has begun to die. But if that body is to be vigorous, the change must occur in a regular manner, harmonizing with the form and nature of that body; otherwise change produces a monstrous growth, a cancer, which devours its host. The conservative takes care that nothing in a society should ever be wholly old, and that nothing should ever be wholly new. This is the means of the conservation of a nation, quite as it is the means of conservation of a living organism. Just how much change a society requires, and what sort of change, depend upon the circumstances of an age and a nation...”
Comment on the above:
Understanding the pace of change
It would be prudent to keep these wise words of Kirk in mind. However, we do believe in “mystical Progress,” evolution is a Supreme Principle in the Theoevolutionary Church, we evolve to Godhood. As to the two forces influencing society, we tend to use the terms "ordered" for permanence and “evolution” for progress. The great heritage of Catholicism is affirmed in the Twofold Path, and since we believe we must evolve to Godhood, the God seen in the Inward Path of Catholicism (and other religions), change is therefore essential. But “reasoned and temperate progress “ is the wise way to evolve. The stability of conservatism in general helps maintain evolutionary new mutations which would perish without that stability. And indeed, how much evolution, the timing of evolution, depends always on the circumstances of the nation, the small states, or ethnostates, within the nation and the world. Cattell's Beyondism began the scientific study of the regulation of the pace of evolution, which we would extend in conjunction with conservative Catholicism.
I understand the reality that the pace of change in religion will be and should be even slower than political change. Truth often limits power, and power limits truth. We need both. And public acceptance is required. The Theoevolutionary Church absolutely needs to be lawful with the splendid Constitution of the United States behind it. We will be implemented only by legal consent. A long period of consideration and change will take place. Ultimately, the Theoevolutionary Church is a global project. Finally, I understand that although our goal is epiphenomenal it is beyond this world.
“...Tenth, the thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society. The conservative is not opposed to social improvement, although he doubts whether there is any such force as a mystical Progress, with a Roman P, at work in the world. When a society is progressing in some respects, usually it is declining in other respects. The conservative knows that any healthy society is influenced by two forces, which Samuel Taylor Coleridge called its Permanence and its Progression. The Permanence of a society is formed by those enduring interests and convictions that gives us stability and continuity; without that Permanence, the fountains of the great deep are broken up, society slipping into anarchy. The Progression in a society is that spirit and that body of talents which urge us on to prudent reform and improvement; without that Progression, a people stagnate.
Therefore the intelligent conservative endeavors to reconcile the claims of Permanence and the claims of Progression. He thinks that the liberal and the radical, blind to the just claims of Permanence, would endanger the heritage bequeathed to us, in an endeavor to hurry us into some dubious Terrestrial Paradise. The conservative, in short, favors reasoned and temperate progress; he is opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.
Change is essential to the body social, the conservative reasons, just as it is essential to the human body. A body that has ceased to renew itself has begun to die. But if that body is to be vigorous, the change must occur in a regular manner, harmonizing with the form and nature of that body; otherwise change produces a monstrous growth, a cancer, which devours its host. The conservative takes care that nothing in a society should ever be wholly old, and that nothing should ever be wholly new. This is the means of the conservation of a nation, quite as it is the means of conservation of a living organism. Just how much change a society requires, and what sort of change, depend upon the circumstances of an age and a nation...”
Comment on the above:
Understanding the pace of change
It would be prudent to keep these wise words of Kirk in mind. However, we do believe in “mystical Progress,” evolution is a Supreme Principle in the Theoevolutionary Church, we evolve to Godhood. As to the two forces influencing society, we tend to use the terms "ordered" for permanence and “evolution” for progress. The great heritage of Catholicism is affirmed in the Twofold Path, and since we believe we must evolve to Godhood, the God seen in the Inward Path of Catholicism (and other religions), change is therefore essential. But “reasoned and temperate progress “ is the wise way to evolve. The stability of conservatism in general helps maintain evolutionary new mutations which would perish without that stability. And indeed, how much evolution, the timing of evolution, depends always on the circumstances of the nation, the small states, or ethnostates, within the nation and the world. Cattell's Beyondism began the scientific study of the regulation of the pace of evolution, which we would extend in conjunction with conservative Catholicism.
I understand the reality that the pace of change in religion will be and should be even slower than political change. Truth often limits power, and power limits truth. We need both. And public acceptance is required. The Theoevolutionary Church absolutely needs to be lawful with the splendid Constitution of the United States behind it. We will be implemented only by legal consent. A long period of consideration and change will take place. Ultimately, the Theoevolutionary Church is a global project. Finally, I understand that although our goal is epiphenomenal it is beyond this world.
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