MAGA is not the same as Conservative
I half wonder why I’m bothering with this post. Maybe it’s because this is just something that bothers me. Maybe it’s because the lumping of groups of people together seems lazy and unfair. Maybe it’s because of something I ate. Who knows. But I felt the need to write this and make the argument that MAGA and conservatives are not the same.
Politics is an interesting beast. Often in our modern context, we try to simplify politics into easy soundbites, put people into pre-determined and pre-defined boxes, and lump together what we think is similar – especially when it comes to those we are opposed to. The logic usually goes something like this – “If you aren’t on my side, then you must be my enemy.” I’ve seen this from both conservative and liberal politicians, media sources, and on social media. In some regards, this really isn’t anything specific to politics – it’s more a feature of humanity.
Back when I worked for a member of Congress, I remember being told that relationships with those on the other side of the aisle were important and also a bit tricky. One moment you were strongly opposing what another member was supporting, and the next, you were asking for them to support your legislation. That doesn’t happen though when politics becomes too personal, where there is mistrust, tribalism, and more.
One of the areas that I’ve seen this happen is in the lumping of the MAGA (Make America Great Again, Trump) universe together with conservatives. Granted, there is often policy overlap between these two groups to some degree, but they are not the same groups. I think there are key and important differences between these two groups. The lumping of them together is really a disservice to the state of politics in general as well as to these groups, and to those in opposition to MAGA and what it stands for and is about. I’ve seen too many commentators on the liberal end of the political spectrum equate MAGA and conservative and I think they are missing the mark and missing opportunities to connect with conservatives. It might sound surprising or even crazy but liberals and conservatives have far more in common than conservatives have with MAGA, especially at the foundational level of governing and politics.
So let’s talk about the differences between MAGA and conservatives. In the next couple of paragraphs I’m trying to give a fair assessment and summary of what each of these “movements” value. I am purposefully setting aside specific issues, because the issues are always seen through the lens of their core foundations. What I’m describing is the aspirational, or ideal sense, of what it means to be a conservative or MAGA. There are always going to be variations. I’m asking readers to set aside their judgements about what conservatism and MAGA stands for and look at their core foundations for right now. I’m not asking anyone to agree with either, but to just see what they are built upon. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at these groups.
Modern conservatism traces its roots back the 18th century. Edmund Burke, a British parliamentarian and political writer was a key figure in formalizing the ideology through his writings. The core foundation of the ideology is about conserving “traditional” institutions and practices. Conservatism isn’t reliant on any one person. Conservatism has long valued consistency in its arguments, stability, structure, authority, and sacredness. Conservative ideas often show concern for the larger community over just the desires of the individual and the impact decisions and policies have on institutions and order in society. True conservatives value the process as much as the end result and they would reject an ends justify the means belief system or action because they would see how harmful the ends justify the means really is. Conservatives value the process because they recognize that sometimes they will win and sometimes they will lose, but having a fair process is vital for the stability of a society.
MAGA stands for Make America Great Again. The founder of this movement is Donald Trump from his 2015 as he was running for president. In some regards though, the movement is older than this. It just has a different name than previous iterations of the same ideas. MAGA looks to the person of Donald Trump as its core foundation, rather than a set of beliefs, policies, or ideas. It is not an ideology in the sense that conservatism is. It is dependent on Trump for its existence. MAGA does not value institutions or practices unless they can be used to carry out the desired end. It is most concerned with winning, which allows it to use the levers of government to impose whatever policies its leader believes should be imposed. MAGA believes in the ends justifying the means, not the process. Because of this belief, there is no need for a consistency of argument. All that matters is winning. And because of the core belief in the ends justifying the means, the use of force, fear, anger, alternative truths, demeaning opponents, setting aside norms, are all acceptable in pursuit of winning.
One of the key differences between MAGA and conservatism is that conservatism is concerned with politics, in the traditional meaning of the term – the polis, the city, the greater good beyond the individual. MAGA is most concerned with the obtaining and use of power. At their core, they are at odds with each other.
It is from these core differences that I think there is an opportunity for conservatives and liberals to connect and work together. Liberals and conservatives both value politics over power, process over the ends justify the means, and ideological thinking over personality driven policies. That’s not to say that conservatives and liberals agree on policies. It’s to say that they have a common concern and belief in more foundational things that their policy differences emerge from.
About The Author
CommentTo be forthright, I count myself as a conservative – a functional conservative. I embrace the label, not because I have some great desire for it, but because I sense to do otherwise is dishonest.
That said, I also should be frank and say I don’t vote. I pray instead. I’m done with voting, and I live for Jesus. This is not disengagement with politics, for I have opinions, I share them, and if possible, I will influence the opinions of others. But as a Jesus kind, I want to see what YWHW does with two good pieces of lumber and three nails.
So, if I don’t seem crazy yet… let’s talk.
I am not a student of politics. No doubt many of the notions I work with are not text book at all. And I expect I am more accurately labeled MODERATE in some ways since my conservatism is so thoroughly self critiqued and my friendliness with liberals is so strong. But then even moderate SEEMS to suggest something more IN THE MIDDLE, yet I would insist my Jesus angle is not actually in the middle, but more on some other field.
AS for MAGA…
I am not MAGA. I TRY to be fair and reasonable about Trump, but I have a very short list of positive things to say about him. I struggle to have respect for him at all. I am shocked this clown has such a following and I sense our world is diminished.
But I am conservative largely because of Jesus – in a round about sense. Jesus types and the part of the world I live in are “conservative” for the most part. IT is the air I breathe and always have.
I grew up in communities that didn’t have alcohol sales, dancing was illegal, and stores closed on Sunday. Boys went with girls and girls with boys. Whites with whites, and blacks – mostly I didn’t know any. Work was honest, and you should get paid for it. I went to church a minimum of 3 times a week, not counting weddings, funerals, and special events. I had my own Bible from the first grade up, and in about the third grade I got one with my name imprinted on it.
I’m a good old boy! Raised as one among many. At root, THAT kind of living makes sense to me in my bones.
That said, I am not a hater. Never was. My parents weren’t. My grandparents were bigots, but not haters. My dad was the first in my family to get college educated. He completed a Masters and plunged into post grad but did not finish his PhD. I am the first grand kid to get a high school diploma and the only one on my mothers side to get it. But I went on to get a college degree and some grad school.
I never saw overt and hateful racism, but I certainly heard plenty of latent bigotry in my time. My grandparents came to view my parents as liberal, though I don’t think they ever used that language with regard to politics. However, my parents surely had more regard for the ACRM and even Vietnam war protests than most of my family and friends.
As a teenager, my dad left the ministry and we moved to Colorado outside of the Bible belt. I felt the social guardrails relax in my life a lot then. I became highly critical of church and politics then, and at 16, I left the church.
I was too young to vote for or against Reagan, but I found myself leaning away from him as time went on. That was not so much about critical thought as FEELINGS. When Bush took us to war in Kuwait, I began in earnest thinking more critically. I was against the war. I voted for Clinton.
I still like Clinton.
I don’t like what he did with Monica. But that wasn’t a ballot issue. She was of age, and so it wasn’t a crime. But you can sure bet I remember how all my neighbors in the conservative sphere got all riled up about it and tried to run him out on a rail.
However, I moved to AZ as a young adult about the time Rush L was getting hot, and I discovered talk radio. I was coming of age as I listened to that banter, and I was coming to admire conservatism more and more. I came to appreciate that some of the liberal ideas were pretty experimental and OUT THERE. I came to especially value personal integrity and accountability.
But I was also studying Jesus, and I could NOT see how any of these political insights could justifiably displace being my brother’s keeper. People are sheep, and sheep need a shepherd. That’s just basic biblical theology. Ken Hamblin, G. Gordon Liddy, and Rush Limbaugh could not dismiss that with their fancy rhetoric.
But I voted for Dole.
We lost.
Then I went to Bible school and got a BA in Bible.
Bush II came along with all his “faith-based initiatives” and the like, and I was feeling the magnetic pull in the political sphere of polarities. Let me explain it like this: When Rush and friends belittled “midnight basketball” … I kinda got it. Is midnight basketball wrong or ineffective? I don’t know. I didn’t then either. But it is rather experimental and avant garde. Your average conservative isn’t gonna get excited about spending tax money on it. And I get that.
Let’s just suppose a minute that midnight basketball is the cat’s meow at getting youths off drugs and welfare. Let’s just say it is a surprisingly huge ROI.
You are gonna need to demonstrate the surprising results fast AND do it with finesse if you want the Baptist preacher and his family down at the diner after church to sign on with their support.
But if it’s NOT that great, or worse yet, if not good at all, then my kind of neighbors are gonna chafe big time at seeing taxes support midnight basketball. In fact, if some liberal, black, muslim, northern, yankee thought up the idea AND it’s pretty good, my neighbors are gonna poo poo it. Right?
But by the time of Bush II, I am college educated enough to THINK in my head how he has turned this table around. “Faith based initiative” talk coming from the president just sounds too southern, Baptist, and johnny reb to those other Americans who might think there was value in midnight basketball. Right?
What about Muslim faith based initiatives?
Hmmm…
The conservatives in my neighborhood never really THOUGHT through their complaint about prayer in school too far. What if there are pagan prayers? Muslim prayers? Satanic prayers? The US Constitution cut God out of the governing business – the God of Jesus, that is.
We don’t think through our stance on abortion too far either. If – IF – we successfully get every pregnancy to result in a birth, whose gonna feed all those unwanted babies? Who’s gonna educate them? Love them?
There’s some sort of Baptist kneejerk reaction that holds forth some matrix where the little floozy with the unwanted pregnancy will just have to marry that good old boy, settle down, and go to church how. They can have a shotgun wedding and make a white, middle class American family that sends those kids to college and gets them jobs and they will vote Republican – of course.
Kneejerk.
Well…
So… take all that not-too-well-thought-out STUFF that gets talked about in barbershops, gun shows, talk radio programs, and after church cafe tables, and throw in a few steel mills closed down, and a few other things like that… let the WWII generation die out and the privileged generations that follow come up behind all of that, and throw in social media.
We “conservatives” are more gripe than conservative.
I feel this too, to some extent though I am highly critical of this too. I fully recognize that as we move forward, I need to get used to this being less and less a white man’s world. As a white man, that is a little scary and painful to me at some points. But I am a Jesus kind. Jesus wasn’t white and wasn’t American. Yet I have worked to anchor my life on him – something conservatives taught me to do!
I am somewhat alarmed too. Our world is far more gay, more black, more back talk from my kids than I ever imagined.
But I keep remembering the little bracelets: WWJD?
Jesus doesn’t vote.
Jesus changed the world with two fine pieces of lumber and three nails. My conservative family and neighbors taught me that. I’ve been struggling for two decades at least with my church for abandoning this stuff they taught me. I have been struggling with the ire that has grown up in its place, and I remember when we called it Tea Party.
Trump comes along grabbing pussy and posing with a Bible and a flag, and I say, Does anyone remember when we griped about our leaders having CHARACTER? Clinton lacked strong moral character and we tried to crucify him. Remember that?
Who’s fickle now?
WE ARE!
The biggest problem with Trump isn’t trump; it’s US! WE are the problem, and he is just the piper we follow at the moment.
There is this sense of loss and fear among conservatives though. THAT is what he has a hold of.
I think liberals experience a version of the same thing. Those at the fringe of either side have greased these gears for decades. Burning draft cards and bras used to be so avant garde. It’s all tame now, but we didn’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee!
Muskogee was shocked way back THEN.
IF you ask me, FROM my viewpoint, this outlangeshment started on the Left and brewed a long time unchecked. Not that I am insensitive either. Sending kids to Vietnam to die was a huge problem! And what could they do? Vote? or Burn a Bra???
But in the 1900s with Limbaugh and friends, the way of the Left became the way of the Right ever so slowly until the Tea Party and then finally the Right has the mentality of a wifebeater barricaded in the house with the wife and kids hostage. “If I can’t have her, no one can!” A murder suicide pact without the pact.
Thank you TRUMP.
But then again, the real problem with Trump isnt really him. It’s us. WE have been going here a long time. I’ve been speaking out against it IN CHURCH for two decades to no avail. Not so far.
But I think there’s a chance it might burn itself out. Probably not, but I sense there is a chance of it.
I am praying for it.
Wow, there’s a lot there. Thanks for being vulnerable in sharing all of it. I think the most powerful, and accurate part is your statement that we are the problem. I have been known to say that i think it is a bit unfair to complain about our elected officials, especially when they are past their first term. How did they get there? People voted for them. But no body wants to point the finger of blame where it really belongs- on the voters. The sacred voter just can’t be touched. The sacred undecided voter is considered practically a saint. But pointing to the voters as the problem is about pointing out our neighbors, our families, and ourselves. Surely we would rather blame someone else so we don’t have to feel guilty. But i am reminded of Winston Churchill’s quote: “ democracy is a terrible form of government, except for all the other types.”
Well reasoned, my friend.
I am a staunch MAGA supporter and was one long before there was a President Trump or a movement. My core beliefs are centered around faith in Jesus, my family, and the belief that the United States, for all its obvious warts, has long been a nation blessed by God. And I believe that, like Sodom, Gomorrah, and even the nation of Israel, this nation has completely lost its way. All one has to do is look all the places the Gospel is not coming out of the pulpit and the total lack of common sense in the public square.
My wife and I both believe there is a spiritual revival happening in America today. It is happening largely outside any church organization and most congregations, including ours. The MAGA movement is the public square evidence of that. Common sense is erupting everywhere, especially in our government. It is not because of MAGA, MAGA is but a symptom.
John, Thank you for reading my post and taking the time to respond. While we obviously have very different views of the world, I appreciate you adding your thoughts to the conversation.
I’m a firm believer that while many people are speaking English, we aren’t all using the same language. What I mean by that is that often we use words and assume that everyone defines them the same way. I think if you look at history, you would see that this is a bad assumption that has led to some terrible things in the past.
If you are willing, I’d be curious to hear how you define some of the terms you are using. It would help me to understand better what you intend to mean. The questions I have below are seeking to understand, not attack.
When you say that you were a MAGA supporter before President Trump or a movement existed – could you define what you mean by that? My understanding is that MAGA didn’t exist before President Trump started it. Are you referring to the Tea Party movement, or something else?
When you say faith in Jesus, what do you mean? Are you talking about what Jesus taught (like the beatitudes), how he calls on disciples to follow, or something else?
You say that the nation has lost its way. Could you specify what you mean by that? When did this happen or what sparked the change? Were we on the “right” track in the past? And when?
I’m not clear on what you mean by your statement: “All one has to do is look all the places the Gospel is not coming out of the pulpit and the total lack of common sense in the public square.” How are you defining the Gospel? Is the Gospel a set of beliefs on social issues? Is it the doctrine of Justification? Is it Substitutionary Atonement? Something else? And how are you defining common sense? Is common sense a set of policies? Is it something else?
I’m curious if you could say more about the spiritual revival associated with MAGA. I would agree that MAGA is a spiritual movement. I have read plenty of stories about people going to MAGA rallies that essentially sound like an evangelical worship service, where the speakers are using Scripture and matching things with ideological beliefs. I hope that’s a fair assessment. I would see it as a different spirit though. How does the MAGA movement or the spiritual revival as you have called it, align with Jesus, what he taught, and how he calls on his disciples to live?
Of course I’m coming from a different perspective and looking at things through a different lens defining these same terms in probably different ways, even to the extent of what it means to follow Jesus.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this and if you do answer, I’ll read your responses with great curiosity. Thank you.