Growing more conservative and religious
"I used to believe that people got more religious when they got older because they were getting closer to death and they felt they needed to hedge their bets. And I felt that people got more conservative as they got older because they got richer and wanted to keep more of their money.
Then, when I got older, and became both of the above, I came to realize that while that’s true with a great many people, there was an alternate explanation that I would like to believe is true in my case and those of many others. You become more spiritual and more religious, because you realize nothing else works. And if you live a life like I have, you tried everything else. I’m the only guy that had to go to a 12-step program to get over Bill Clinton. And you become more conservative, not because you become more selfish, but because you keep the ideals that you had in your earlier years. But you realize that the way to achieve them is not the straight-ahead path that the left suggests, but the smart path that the right suggests." -- Dick Morris
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The story of Dick Morris' journey to the Catholic Church is one of those strange ones that God is so fond of writing through grace. Ironically it was his fall from grace in the Clintonian world that lead him to true grace. Now if only he could make a political prediction that actually came true.
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They got David Brock, we got Dick Morris. We win this round!
What? You don't think Condi and Hillary will square off in '08?
Actually, I have a confession to make: the first political book I ever bought was by Dick Morris. I'm so ashamed to admit it, but I had never really paid much attention to politics, and I heard him give a really good interview on a late-night radio show. Not knowing what an oily peddler of half-truths and outright lies he was (I hope he's converted away from that) I found him incredibly interesting and bought his book. Whoops! Needless to say, it was trash, like 90% of all political books.
There, I feel better having that off my chest.
"Now if only he could make a political prediction that actually came true."
LOL! Ain't that the truth? My rule of thumb is that if Dick Morris says something is going to happen, run as fast as you can and place a bet on the opposite to happen.
Dick's an all right politcal analyst, but I think he is a tad overrated. I've always been amused at some of the praise lavished on the guy for his success at managing Clinton's 1996 election. Yes, he managed to lead an incumbent president, during a time of (supposed) peace and enormous prosperity running against a dotard, to nearly 49% of the vote. Wow. What a mircale worker.
But that said, his faith "recovery," for lack of a better term, is a great story, and it seems legit. He may not be the best political analyst around, but he's definitely grown.
I think having children and watching them grow up is simultaneously the most conservatizing and religious devotion increasing thing that exists. It's not so much that you realize nothing else works. (You only have to get a little bit older than that to realize that nothing at all works, and the real art is in dealing with it.) No. It's more that you begin rightly to care about your grandchildren and what kind of world they will grow up in, and how, if at all, you will be able to pass your "value system" or "recipe for living well" or whatever you want to call it down to them. You naturally become reactionary toward anything that threatens what you perceive to be good (or good enough) order, and you've lived long enough to be skeptical of skepticism and iconocastic toward iconoclasts. This three generation principle was noted (with extreme erudition, BTW) in an essay a couple years ago by Lee Harris: The Future of Tradition. It explains a lot.
Well, I hope you are right about his ability to predict since he says in that same speech that Hillary will be the next president...
Oh great. With Dick Morris in the fold, we have to endure not only the tired old altar-boy jokes, but we'll have to hear about "those Catholic toe-suckers". On the other hand, I imagine that Mr. Morris may be the one Catholic in America who looks forward to the Holy Thursday foot-washing.
Hmmm, Why is it when this topic comes up people never think of using the "W" word. It's the way this kind of thing was traditionally described, but nowadays, "equality" is sought even in comparing the young and old.
The "W" word is of course "wisdom", which used to be associated with age (though never guaranteed).
But the current older "generation" is not really seeking wisdom, in general, so perhaps that's why it's not thought of. Then there are the radical materialists who cannot equate wisdom with faith.
Oh well, just a word to the wise! :)
I made Mr Morris chuckle at a book signing before the 2004 election when I told him that the biggest mistake Bill Clinton ever made was making an enemy of him.
Now he's a convert, that's great news! Can Hillary be far behind?