Common terms, like conservative and liberal, with traditional meanings may not mean the same things today.  Still, there are definitions of conservative even the liberals have to accept, because those definitions are unchanging.

Just as some want to abandon the term "conservative," many Christians wanted to stop using the term "born again," popularized by President Jimmy Carter.  It was evident, however, that it was wrong to abandon a term that has clear Biblical meaning (John 3:3, 5).  Why would we let the world rob us of our most valuable terms?

So what exactly is a conservative?

1. Few Democrats are considered conservative.  Most conservatives are Republicans who strongly support America.  Although there has been little difference between Democrat and Republican administrations, their platforms are vastly different.  The Platform of the Idaho Republican Party is just one example of the difference.
2. Most conservatives are Christians who support the Bible, the U.S.  Constitution, and our wonderful American history.  The Constitution has kept us free for over two hundred years.  John Adams, however, made it clear that it was made only for a moral people.
3. Conservatives believe that every life must be protected from conception.  An egg from a woman can be harvested, fertilized, and frozen for years outside the body.  It is actually viable from the moment of conception.  Most conservatives do not accept any abortion except to save the life of the mother.  However, one doctor said he had delivered over 4,000 babies and never saw a case where the fetus threatened the life of the mother.
4. Conservatives believe that God created man and woman for the survival of the human race. 
5. Conservatives believe that gay activity is counterproductive and harmful.
6. Conservatives believe that transgender teaching only confuses young children. 
7. Conservatives generally support our free-market system, which has made America great.  Our freedom was won in the War for Independence, and that freedom allowed us to become the greatest nation in the world in less than a hundred years.
8. Conservatives support the promotion of all energy sources, especially the use of fossil fuels.  The use of fossil fuels not only saved the whales, but helped make us the most advanced nation on the Earth.
9. Many conservatives reject the promotion of wind, solar, and electric vehicles.  Sales of electric vehicles declined last year for many models.  These represent a very small portion of our energy use.  There is no way to support them without serious subsidies.
10. Conservatives understand that carbon dioxide is the substance plants need for growth, with the more the better.  Carbon dioxide is made out to be a demon that is going to destroy the Earth.  In actual fact, the tiny portion of 410 parts per million is where all plants get the carbon for growth.  Conservatives realize that the percentage of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by man is very small.  Man affects our environment more by the things he builds than by the amount of carbon dioxide he produces.
11. Most conservatives believe in a foreign policy that protects America and generally lets other nations handle their own affairs.  Thomas Jefferson called for "peace, commerce, honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none."  This is still good policy.
12. Conservatives do not support open borders.  Conservatives believe that the border fence must be finished and immigration controlled.  We presently have an insane border policy which has permitted millions to invade our country.
13. Conservatives do not support government spending financed by inflating the currency, which hurts the poor most of all.  When the government prints more money and gives some to everyone, prices naturally rise.  Now we are paying with grossly higher prices for everything.  Inflating the currency only promotes tyranny and a larger government which hurts everyone.
14. Conservatives know that the Democrat party and especially the present administration are determined to make America a socialist nation, which history has shown to be not productive.
15. Conservatives support freedom of assembly as long as it does not injure or damage the property of others.  Just a couple of years ago, anarchist mobs destroyed cars and burned down buildings, and nothing was done about it.  This is harmful for all Americans.
16. Conservatives know that America is the melting pot of people of the world and support the freedom of all philosophies and all faiths.  However, religious freedom does not give anyone the right to destroy others.  Israel is just one country where various faiths live in harmony. 
17. Donald J. Trump kept his promises, and America became great again.  Trump was the clear choice for president in the straw poll of the 2023 conservative CPAC conference.
18. Conservatives believe that freedom of speech is paramount in protecting all other constitutional rights.  Without freedom of speech, other rights have little meaning.
19. Conservatives strongly support the Second Amendment.  The Second Amendment is not just for hunting, but was designed to protect the people from government tyranny.
20. Conservatives do not support defunding the police and believe that a local police force of character is our greatest first line of defense.  The movement to defund the police has demoralized the police, so that many fine local policemen have abandoned their profession.  Now we see national police (FBI, CIA, others) taking men and women into custody simply for exercising their constitutional rights.

Being a conservative American is the greatest title anyone can have. 

Jim Hollingsworth is a graduate of Pensacola Christian College with a Master's in biblical studies.  He has written four books: Climate Change: A Convenient Truth, Cortez: A Biography, The Ancient Culture of the Aztec Empire, and Abortion Compassion.  A fifth book, A Commentary on the Book of Romans, is with the publisher and should be available in about a month.  Jim Hollingsworth receives mail at jimhollingsworth@frontier.com.

Image: Magog the Ogre.