Christmas spiritChristmas Spirit aside, there is (guilty) pleasure in offending the Enemies of The Permanent Things. Raise their blood-pressure by giving our kindred souls—or sporting yourself—a monoclegray spats, a natty walking stick or a pocket-watch and chain. If that’s too daunting, start with a paisley cravat. Imaginative Conservative ladies may irritate the neo-barbarians by going to and from church or college chapel with an antique rosary and a chaste lace veil—or, if the ideologues are really a problem, add one of these.

 

ConservativeEither gender of real conservative would be delighted to receive a rare copy of Russell Kirk’s Confessions of a Bohemian Tory, long out of print. Revel in our sage communing with Scottish ghosts, Spanish mystics wrestling physically with the devil, right-thinking poets and artists. It is life-changing stuff if you or your favourite feel, as Dr. Kirk writes within, that “Mine was not an Enlightened mind, I now was aware: it was a Gothic mind, medieval in its temper and structure. I did not love cold harmony and perfect regularity of organization; what I sought was variety, mystery, tradition, the venerable, the awful.” Then, as a New Year’s resolution, cultivate your inner Bohemian Tory!

Books on the people and topics discussed in this essay may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore.

We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an on-line journal for those who seek the True, the Good and the Beautiful. We address culture, liberal learning, politics, political economy, literature, the arts and the American Republic in the tradition of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, Wilhelm Roepke, Robert Nisbet, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, Eric Voegelin, Christopher Dawson, Paul Elmer More and other leaders of Imaginative Conservatism (Visit our Bookstore to find books by/about these men) .

We address a wide variety of major issues including: What is the essence of conservatism? What was the role of faith in the American Founding? Is liberal learning still possible in the modern academy? Should conservatives and libertarians be allies? What is the proper role for the American Republic in spreading ordered liberty to other cultures/nations?

We have a great appreciation for the thought of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Irving Babbitt and Christopher Dawson, among other imaginative conservatives. However, some of us look at the state of Western culture and the American Republic and see a huge dark cloud which seems ready to unleash a storm that may well wash away what we most treasure of our inherited ways. Others focus on the silver lining which may be found in the next generation of traditional conservatives who have been inspired by Dr. Kirk and his like. We hope that The Imaginative Conservative answers T.S. Eliot’s call to “redeem the time, redeem the dream.”

All comments are moderated and must be civil, concise, and constructive to the conversation. Comments that are critical of an essay may be approved, but comments containing ad hominem criticism of the author will not be published. Also, comments containing web links or block quotations are unlikely to be approved. Keep in mind that essays represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Imaginative Conservative or its editor or publisher.

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