Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.—Gustav Mahler

Monday, October 18, 2004

Why the Reform Club . . .

The Reform Club was the original meeting place of the classical liberals, the English Whigs, in the eighteenth century.

Taking up that same mantle for our own time, we are for reform--of government, tax and budget systems, the schools, social attitudes, sexual mores, attitudes toward personal responsibility, the definition of human life, the media, journalism standards, literature, film, music, attitudes toward mankind's place in nature, indeed, just about everything.

The principles guiding the reforms we seek are in line with the classical liberal, humanist Christian tradition.

The perpetual quest of the liberal mind—and to a large degree the sine qua non of Western civilization—has always been the search for ordered liberty.

The liberal mind seeks a balance between liberty and order in all things. In a human society, neither full liberty nor complete order is ever possible. The liberal recognizes this and accepts it, with all its implications.

We understand that freedom and order are ideals that can never be reached, but to which any good society must always aspire.

The goal of a liberal is always to find the policies, actions, behaviors, etc. that maximize both liberty and order simultaneously.

Critical components of this process are community, family, church, the “little platoons,” voluntary associations, local government, and the like.

We shall present the thoughts of a variety of persons who share this point of view, and shall discuss current events in light of the principles outlined here.

We look forward to your custom and comments.

Best w's,

S. T. Karnick

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