The basic premise of conservatism is the effort to preserve things as they have been. It accepts change and innovation that respects existing customs and traditions. We are all prone to overestimate our own wisdom and underestimate the limits of our perspective. Conservatism tempers that dangerous tendency.

This philosophy is aptly summarized in the proverb, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28; also 23:10; Deuteronomy 19:14). That landmark was put there for a purpose, even if you don’t understand what it was.

A perfect example is marriage, an institution that has underpinned human civilization from its beginning. Its stabilizing influence on society has long been obvious, and logically so: When a man and woman commit to each other before they have children, those children are substantially likelier to grow up in a stable environment under the guidance of two people who have a deeply vested interest in their success. Facts bear this out: Children from stable two-parent homes are, on balance, safer, better behaved, better educated, more successful, wealthier, and likelier to produce stable families of their own. The rules of marriage—one man and one woman, monogamy, fidelity, teamwork, permanence—were set long before we arrived, and their wisdom, frankly, exceeds our understanding. (If you are interested, you can gain a lot of that wisdom by reading our free booklet Why Marriage—Soon Obsolete?, by Herbert W. Armstrong.)

Removing this ancient landmark—celebrating promiscuity, marriageless parenting and divorce instead; then redefining the institution itself to include two or more people of whatever sex—is guaranteed to have far-reaching consequences beyond what we can imagine.

Marriage is actually an ancient landmark set not by our human fathers but by our ultimate Father, God, at man’s creation (Genesis 2:18-25). People can vote on these things if they want, judges can ignore them, governments can define and redefine them, but God’s laws of marriage do not change. When we break those laws, our lives get broken. The proof is all around us. Removing this landmark is destabilizing society dramatically and bringing untold curses.

It is true that ancient landmarks established by men are not always good and wise; sometimes they do need to be removed. But whether or not you believe it, many of America’s “ancient landmarks” were, like marriage, set by none other than God Himself. This nation was founded on many biblical principles and almost entirely by Bible-believers, men with far greater wisdom than that possessed by any of today’s leaders. Their careful composition of a government aimed at curbing tyranny—whether of the monarch, the governing elite or the mob—is a masterwork. The safeguards they installed to protect liberty, prosperity, security and stability are brilliant. The less respect we have for the ancient landmarks—especially the most ancient among them, which are contained in the Bible—the more we invite trouble.

What the overall principle of conservatism gets right traces back to the Bible, the Creator and the way He created man.

God does not change. The Bible establishes that fact. “For I am the Lord, I change not …” (Malachi 3:6). Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). His word endures. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).

While it is true—the Bible is clear on this point—that certain aspects of God’s law, specifically designed for ancient Israel under the Old Covenant with that nation, no longer apply physically, those aspects are far fewer than most people believe. We are bound by the spirit, intent and principle of far more of those laws than most people acknowledge. (Even those laws that are done away have much to teach us.) To the Israelites anciently, God specifically said His laws were not suggestions from which they could pick and choose; the people were to live “by every word” (Deuteronomy 8:3). The spirit of this law applies to Christians today. Jesus Christ personally quoted and confirmed this truth (Matthew 4:4). Clearly, Christ studied the law. He lived by every word. Why don’t more people who call themselves Christians follow His example?

Society has spurned God’s laws and untethered itself from all moral absolutes. What is right one day is wrong the next; standards are in constant flux. People are left floundering on shifting sands, adrift in fallible human reasoning.

In such conditions, it is inevitable that radicals will keep pushing. And as the push continues, things once thought abhorrent eventually become tolerable.