I've been reading The Politics of Prudence (published in 1993) by Russell Kirk , a hero of the conservative movement. After the first two chapters I had to find out whether he was a Catholic because his thought is so consistent with Catholic principles. Sure enough, he married and converted to Catholicism in the same year -- 1963 when he was 45. He and his wife, Annette had four daughters. They named their home "Piety Hill" and entertained there often. What an exciting dinner table that must have been. Kirk would not drive or own a television. That no doubt gave him more time to think, write, and enjoy his friends.
I'm a newcomer to Kirk but I don't plan to remain one. He not only wrote books and articles of conservative thought, he also wrote three novels and 22 short stories, particularly in the ghost-story genre. Over the next few days I want to describe Kirk's "Ten Conservative Principles" which could just as easily be described as "Ten Catholic Principles."
In my opinion, to be a Catholic in the public square means to be a Kirk (not a Bush or even a Reagan) conservative. In the political realm Kirk is one bookend for Catholic thought. The other is Fr. Felix Sarda Y Salvany who wrote Liberalism is a Sin. A Catholic would be well advised to position himself between Kirk's and Salvany's principles, embracing authentic conservatism and rejecting the egregious errors of an immoral liberalism.
I met Russell Kirk on one occasion Mary, when he was one of the sponsors of the Shroud of Turin conference at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania in 1985 I think.
ReplyDeleteI flew into Baltimore and drove mom up to Elizabethtown and we both enjoyed the conference. Russell Kirk was there and participated in a round table about the shroud at the end.