Ordered evolution rather than ordered liberty

The term “Ordered evolution” opens the door to the future without closing the door to the past, whereas the term “ordered liberty,” which is often used by conservatives, seems to discourage the Faustian view of man conquering nature and prefers instead an Arcadian happy view of the past, or sometimes a more pessimistic view of this world of woe. “Ordered evolution” actually opens the door to the future, to science and so on, without closing the door to the past.

These terms seem to be grounded in how we define God, nature and man. Man seems no less free or more determined with either term, but the choices we do have within determined paths seem to be evolutionary or devolutionary. When freedom is centered on an unchanging order of God beyond nature, then liberty seems more like an after-thought. Order in evolution needs to be seen as necessary to our ongoing evolution toward Godhood.

If unchanging order essentially defines God then“ordered liberty” looks more oxymoronic. When Godhood is understood as the supreme cosmic goal we evolve to in nature, then the phrase “ordered evolution” is more the reality. Ordered evolution defines the reality of our freedom and is not radical revolution. When order is seen as vital in evolution, the past is not extirpated, the future includes the best of the past.  This defines a revitalized conservatism or an evolutionary conservatism.