Conquest’s Second Law Applied

Or How to Avoid Going Communist

Any organization not explicitly right-wing will eventually become left-wing.

Yes, that is the familiar Conquest’s Second Law.  I’ve oft heard it before, but never thought much about it, much less considered any practical application . . . until Aaron Renn wrote succinctly on why the law works — subverts might be a more exact word — and how we can avoid our organizations, societies, and especially churches from becoming left-wing.

Avoiding Conquest's Law

In short, since conservative sensible societies and groups tend to function better than “progressive” ones, they attract people who might not be all that conservative nor sensible.  Those newcomers then pressure the group away from being conservative and sensible.  Rather parasitic, is it not?

But sadly often true.  See what Californians have done to Colorado, once reliably Republican, now so fascist Democrat that state officials tried to disqualify Trump from the ballot.  See what has become of Dallas and Houston.  I’m old enough to remember when both were well run Republican cities.  They are heavily Democrat and crime-ridden now, even if not yet as bad as Chicago, Baltimore, and L. A.  See what happened in the past 150 or so years to all the mainline denominations, save the Southern Baptists, and they are in trouble, too.  (I may write on that soon.)

Renn’s solution? Be so right-wing that joining entails a “status penalty” that repels those too concerned about virtue signaling and personal status.  He gives Christ Church of Moscow, Idaho as an example among churches.

They have built an extremely vibrant community, with lots of healthy families, their own school, university, businesses, social spaces, and real estate. It’s attractive for a lot of people, and in fact they’ve grown a lot by attracting people from around the country to move to Moscow to be part of it.

The key figure in his is of course Doug Wilson, who runs a popular but extremely controversial and provocative blog. He’s a hard core culture warrior type . . . and has become an infamous figure similar to Trump.

Wilson’s persona is something of a double edged sword. But one of the positive functions that it has served for them is to filter out people who aren’t aligned with their vision.

In order to move to Moscow, Idaho and join the Christ Church community involves taking a status hit in mainstream and even evangelical society. You’ll have to tell people that you are a member of Doug Wilson’s church.

As a result, despite having an extremely vibrant community, Christ Church seems not to have attracted a lot of more liberal people that would become a constituency pushing people to the left.

Hence the “Moscow mood” is hardly in danger of being overwhelmed with invading Californians.

So how do you protect your church from being subverted by Californians, cucks and Commies?

Here we may find a silver lining to the leftward shift in the Overton Window.  What used to be considered common sense and decent is now odious and right-wing.  So if your church preaches and practices orthodoxy without apology, you will seem bizarre and bigoted to the sort of people you do not want influencing your church.

What does this look like?  Believe and preach that orthodox traditional Christianity is true, period.  Heck, preach that there are such things as absolute truth and actual falsehoods and evils. Preach that Critical Theory and its progeny (or whatever are the fashionable lies of Satan at the time) are among those falsehoods and evils.  Preach that there is a Hell and that a lot of people will go there and permanently.  Preach original sin.

That’s just for starters.  And I haven’t even gotten into politics.  My personal experience is that just being a congregation of pleasant but common sense Christians who openly think late-term abortions, trans-mutilation of children, and the major political party that supports them are profoundly evil will be enough to repel some.  That even if the preacher rarely talks about politics. (Yes, my congregation is that way, and we have lost at least one longstanding and too influential member because of it.)

In short, no matter how loving your church is — and it should be, of course — unapologetic orthodoxy and common sense orthopraxy will run off most potential subverters.

Probably the biggest problem will be making sure your clergy are unapologetic and common sense.  Most clergy are careerists and therefore cautious and often timid.  Worse are those clergy who fly to successful orthodox churches like bees to honey, but do not necessarily share the values of said churches.  They are hirelings.  And orthodox layman do a godly work by running them off.

But before I get carried away and rant on that necessity, today’s society has gone so mad that common sense and orthodoxy seem right-wing and odious.  So being steadfastly orthodox with a smile will go a long way in avoiding becoming a victim of Conquest’s Second Law.

Yes, more might be necessary at times.  But, again, you probably don’t want to get me started on that, at least not today.