Why Good People are Divided by Religion and Politics

Conservatives are the “party of order and stability…” They generally resist the changes implemented by the “party of progress or reform.” (Mills) But to put things in those terms makes conservatives sound like fearful obstructionists, trying to hold back the hands of time and the “noble human aspirations” of the liberal progress narrative. A more positive way to describe conservatives is to say that their broader moral matrix allows them to detect threats to moral capital that liberals cannot perceive. They do not oppose change of all kinds (such as the Internet), but they fight back ferociously when they believe that change will damage the institutions and traditions that provide our moral exoskeletons (such as the family). Preserving those institutions and traditions is their most sacred value. – Jonathan Haidt, from “The Righteous Mind”

(If you are interested in hearing more from Haidt about being open to Truth see The Colbert Report interview with him, and learn why he considers himself Conservative now.)