A general term that can include many belief systems that can get confused together. Religious
Conservative,
Neo-Conservative, and Constitutional Conservatism are sometimes confused as if they are all the same.
For one example, a constitutional conservative
may also believe in Christianity and therefore an unfamiliar
liberal person may free associate and have knee jerk reaction to believe that the conservative wants to combine the church and state.
A constitutional conservative would want a powerless federal government and abhor government enforcement of theocracy. Oppositely, a religious conservative would want a government that is powerful enough to use those powers of federal government for the enforced values learned in
religion.
It serves the purpose of liberals and progressives to cloud the conventional wisdom that defines a US Conservative.
A US Conservative tries to
read and understand the US Constitution. A US
Liberal tries to read and understand Karl Marx.
A US Conservative speaks of the Federal Government in terms of what "they" are doing. A US
Liberal spaeks of the Federal Government in terms of what "we" are doing.
A US Conservative thinks in terms of Federal Government. A US
Liberal thinks in terms of National Government
A US Conservative thinks in terms of State and State Sovereignty. A US
Liberal thinks in terms of Provinces and National Soveriegnty.
A US Conservative believes the individual gets power from
God and the individual gives that power to government. A US Liberal believes the individual gets power from the government and there is no other source of power.
A US Conservative believes government has limited powers only within the definition of the Constitution. A US Liberal believes the individual has limited powers only within the judgement of the all-powerful government.
