Someone said to me recently, “I am a staunch conservative.”

I told them their secret was safe with me. I would not embarrass them by telling anyone.

It’s not something to brag about. The Gospel does not lean to the right. Unconditional love and forgiveness are not conservative concepts.

But I do sympathize with folks who claim the name “conservative.”

They may not can help it.

A study from New York University suggests that the conservative brain is wired to resist change.

Researchers say there is a “spike” in brain activity when we make an error.

We respond by doing things differently. But not so for “conservatives.” The “error spike” is lower.

Conservatives have a more rigid cognitive system, one more resistant to seeing error and more drawn to the status quo.

And the conservative mind is less responsive to evidence.

“So,” say the authors of the study, “conservatives are not likely to be convinced by logical persuasion.” Conservatives have a mental comfort zone from which they will not move.

Tell conservatives that the image of Christ in the book of Revelations does not agree with the teachings of Jesus, they cannot hear you.

Tell them gay people are just people who happen to be gay, they cannot understand.

So, homophobia and racism live on—because “we have always done it that way.”

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If you have been thinking about giving us a visit—do it this Sunday. Give witness to what you believe. Worship at 11:00.