Calling Conservatives to Character

 If any of the assorted and even mutually exclusive movements aspiring to fly the conservative banner have any hope of recovering even a modicum of integrity, I believe they will have to put a high profile emphasis on character. I am not so naïve as to think this is the road to political success. Character seems not to have broad public appeal.

 As a starting place, I suggest the last chapter of David Brooks’ 2015 book The Road to Character. I actually believe the whole book is worth reading with some care, but what he calls “The Humility Code” (pp. 261 ff) captures what seems to me to be urgently needed, probably not just in so-called conservative circles. To be fair, I have plenty of political disagreements with David Brooks, but I do believe he is thoughtful and principled and a conservative voice that should be heeded by those who consider themselves conservatives. Though I probably don’t think of myself in those terms, I did find his book instructive and valuable. Though he does not write of his own faith, and I make no assumptions about it, he does use what seems to me to be theological and maybe even spiritual language that might be beneficial for conversation beyond my purpose here.

 I hope I may stimulate a least a few people to read that chapter if not the whole book. I will briefly highlight each of the fifteen principles of this “Humility Code” in hopes of stimulating thinking and even conversation, and perhaps enticing enough to get a few people to read the chapter if not the whole book.

1. We don’t live for happiness, we live for holiness.
2. The long road to character begins with an accurate understanding of our nature, and the core of that understanding is that we are flawed creatures.
3.  Although we are flawed creatures, we are also splendidly endowed.  … There is something heroic about a person in struggle with herself, strained on the rack of conscience, suffering torments, yet staying alive and growing stronger, sacrificing a worldly success for the sake on an inner victory.
4.  Humility is the greatest virtue.
5. Pride is the central vice.
6. The struggle against sin and for virtue is the central drama of life.
7. Character is built in the course of your inner confrontation.
8. The things we call character endure over the long term – courage, honesty, humility. People with character are capable of a long obedience in the same direction.
9.  No person can achieve self-mastery on his or her own. … Everybody needs redemptive assistance from outside – from God, family, friends, ancestors, rules, traditions, institutions, and exemplars.
10. The struggle against weakness often has a U shape. … The shape is advance-retreat-advance.
11. Defeating weakness often means quieting the self.
12. Wisdom starts with epistemological modesty.
13. No good life is possible unless it is organized around vocation.  … If you serve work that is intrinsically compelling and focus on just being excellent at that, you will wind up serving yourself and the community,
14. The best leader … prefers arrangements that are low and steady to those that are lofty and heroic.
15. The person who successfully struggles against weakness and sin may or may not become rich and famous, but that person will become mature.