What is it to be a Conservative?

What does it mean to be a conservative? I was thinking about the meaning of the word and this is what Webster's has to say about it:

1con·ser·va·tive
Pronunciation: \kən-ˈsər-və-tiv\
Function: adjective
Date: 14th century

1: preservative2 a: of or relating to a philosophy of conservatism bcapitalized : of or constituting a political party professing the principles of conservatism: as (1): of or constituting a party of the United Kingdom advocating support of established institutions (2): progressive conservative 3 a: tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : traditional b: marked by moderation or caution c: marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners 4: of, relating to, or practicing Conservative Judaism
— con·ser·va·tive·ly adverb
— con·ser·va·tive·ness noun

Or this entry for the root word used as a transitive verb of "conserve":

1con·serve
Pronunciation: \kən-ˈsərv\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): con·served; con·serv·ing

Etymology:
Middle English, from Middle French conserver, from Latin conservare, from com- + servare to keep, guard, observe; akin to Avestan haurvaiti he guards

Date: 14th century

1: to keep in a safe or sound state ; especially : to avoid wasteful or destructive use of 2: to preserve with sugar 3: to maintain (a quantity) constant during a process of chemical, physical, or evolutionary change
— con·serv·er noun

It all basically states what we probably already know but haven't spent much time thinking about (why would you?). To be a Conservative is to strive to conserve the ideals, values, morals, etc of a previous time or designation for the future.

What strikes me is that when you look at the transition verb to conserve, it eludes to a "transition" of what it is. That to be a conservative is to be in a transition from one state to another.

When that is applied to traditions - whether they are moral values, ideology or rituals, to "conserve" those traditions, is to acknowledge that they are moving from one state of being to another future state. That the tradition of your grandparents that you may practice today is an evolved form of what they experienced and/or regarded. Their viewpoint 50 years ago was shaped by the reality of the world that they lived in and those same rituals - say a Christmas gathering or historic annual event is shaped by how we experience it today.

So to say that moral values are slipping and to strive to restore them, in the example of traditional Christian beliefs, is to acknowledge that those very beliefs have always been in transition.

The Christian church that the Apostle Paul helped guide 2000 years ago was completely different than today's version (most would readily recognize that point due to time elapsed, regional-cultural differences and overall world "knowledge" and experience). And I would think that all would agree the evolution of the Christian church, through the reformation by Martin Luther and the divide of traditional Catholic and Protestant versions of what Christ meant for the salvation of the world has changed drastically for those very reasons.

And now, in this day and age, that traditional values and culture are falling away and to "conserve" them is in actuality to restore them. And to restore means to bring back to an original state which is to mean that a determination of some past point was the accurate restoration benchmark.

I believe that conservatives don't recognize that they are in a process of moving forward and that looking to the past for the moral value cues is to ignore the fact that evolution of thought and ideology is constantly in practice. And that viewpoints based on ancient beliefs are constantly in flux due to trying to pair them up with today's reality and experiences.

Many traditional groups have struggled with this and have broken off into misunderstood sects. Any group from the Puritans who ventured from England to the Netherlands only to arrive on American shores in the Mayflower voyage were escaping the viewpoints of the Church of England that was repressing their own personal beliefs. We can historically look back now and see that the Puritans were a very "conservative" group of believers - but from the perspective of the contemporary Church of England, they were a radical group of separatists who defied the widely accepted beliefs (albeit forced upon by the government).

Or who's to say that the modern day radicals of David Koresh who believed he was the embodiment of Christ on Earth as the Second Coming was wrong? The Branch Davidians were no doubt a ultra radical group from the traditional Christian belief system and their fiery end in Waco, TX only solidified their place in "kookdom". But they were only "kooks" because they were different.

So, my thoughts through all of this postulating is what are we conserving? If we are not restoring? And even if we (as a society) did try to restore, what are you restoring to?

My thoughts are also leading me to think that to be labeled as a conservative is to recognize that you are actually transitioning to a yet-to-be-determined future state of being. And that those beliefs that are held so dear in the current era will eventually fade away and will be replaced by a future set of beliefs that will have some resemblance to the past beliefs but will not, and can not be the very same.

Which also makes me think that we are all Liberals due to that fact. Here is Websters version of what Liberal means (as a noun):

2liberal
Function: noun
Date: 1820

: a person who is liberal: as a: one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways bcapitalized : a member or supporter of a liberal political party c: an advocate or adherent of liberalism especially in individual rights

"one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways" - this part of the definition, to me, shows that even being on a conservative route, we are in motion as defined by a state of moving forward in time - to be "open-minded" about what that future could be.

The worry that tradtional beliefs on marriage, diety, salvation, morality will someday be abolished and that at that time (many) Christians would think that the world was ripe for the events of Armagedon as revealed in Revelations. What if you took someone from the Church at Corinth and showed them what we practice today? In that things have truly changed - for some better and for some worse - but it is in it's entirity completely different from our past. And that the "end of the world" hasn't arrived and that by clinging to archaic ultra radical versions of Victorian morality is only hurting one another.

We are all entitled to believe what we wish or what we believe is to be true. We can still treat one another with respect and dignity - for if we are all created equal in God's eyes, then we must abide by that equality. Which means to give credit and viability to those who believe differently than you may choose to.

And that's OK. That doesn't erode the validity of your own beliefs and your right to practice them in any shape or form you choose. We can all "conserve" that right together and we can all be "open-minded/liberal" for other practices that shape our contemporary world.