Sunday, November 30, 2008
Preaching to the Choir
This will be my last post and comments will go silent at midnight, at which time the entire site goes into archive/posterity mode until someone forgets to pay the hosting bill and the site disappears into oblivion.
If I were to sum up what I’ve done during my on-and-off blogging history, the title of this post would most accurately describe it. Preaching to the choir is, as we know, a cliché we use to describe talking to a group that already has our ear, our agreement, and our attention.
Why not preach to the choir? After all, they’re the ones who have to get to church early, attend rehearsals during the week, and give up the solitude of sitting in the pews for the enjoyment of those who do. Shouldn’t their service to the church and their sacrifices involve a little pay back sometimes? They shouldn’t always have to see only the back of our head and their attendance taken for granted.
We shouldn’t take the choir for granted, as they’re the ones who are willing to devote their time to make life a little better, and enjoyable, for everyone else.
Even those who sing in the choir can get a touch of the blues, and need a little shoring up now and again.
I’ve never cared much about the folks sitting in the pews or those who don’t agree with the philosophy of conservatism. They’re either stupid or evil, and you can’t fix stupid, nor can you change evil to good. What you can do, and what I’ve tried to do, is to keep those who do get it from straying from the gospel of political conservatism, and shared my life’s trials and tribulations so that folks know there’s a real person posting here.
Folks would complain that we wouldn’t allow “differing opinions” on our sites. What they failed to realize is that the opinions that differed weren’t opinions. They were failed ideas, shown through the light of history to be dangerous or flawed. Kim and I referred to them as “settled matters” because we know that capitalism is better than communism, that a strong defense is better than weakness, that freedom is better than tyranny, that caution is better than recklessness, that a civil society is better than an immoral one, that teaching a man to fish is better than giving him fish, even if that means a few people might starve who refuse to learn. We weren’t interested in hearing the same old arguments about how socialism might work or rogues and libertines acceptable, if given a different set of clothing.
Over the years I’ve had a few different mottoes on the site. The one that remain is still my favorite and explains my philosophy, in general:
When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change.
--Lucuis Cary, Viscount Falkland
That doesn’t sum up my entire philosophy. This one does:
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
--Edmund Burke
Blogging has been a very positive thing for me (most of the time). Although hearing the same arguments and complaints (usually from members of the nut set) gets tiring, having to build cohesive arguments (at least the first time) forced me to think through my commitments and opinions. Some of my views changed over the years. This was mainly due to the acceptance of reality, of understanding that some things were beyond compromise or reconciliation. Those are things that may never be settled, not that they couldn’t be, but because some people have a kind of personal investment in them (and refuse to reconsider it). In other arenas and issues, I became more resolute in my opinions. Additional research didn’t change my opinion; on the contrary, my opinions were enriched.
I’ve never been interested in making “converts” to conservatism. Folks will either figure it out on their own, or they won’t. What I’ve been about is making sure that those who already subscribe to the philosophy don’t waiver, don’t lose it, and know they aren’t alone in their views.
We know, from similar statistics, that it takes a lot more time (and money) to make a convert than it does to keep your customers, or those who are considering becoming your customers. In fact, it is just about impossible to convert someone from an extreme. In the marketing biz, converting a Coke drinker to a Pepsi drinker is impossible. If we want to increase our sales, we just have to get the Pepsi drinkers to drink MORE Pepsi, and ignore the Coke customers completely. In order to get a Coke drinker to drink Pepsi, we have to give it to them for free, and even then they’re likely to give it out to their friends, while still drinking Coke on their own.
A lot of folks didn’t get that. They didn’t get that about Kim or me. We’ve never been about recruitment. We’ve always been about retention and making those we retain more committed and involved… increasing the sales among our existing customers, rather than trying to increase sales among a group we have no ability to reach or convert.
That’s meant that what we’ve written about has never made us popular, and we never cared about that. We’ve refused calls to be “leaders” because it demeans others who are capable of leading themselves. Kim and I have enough experience in a variety of fields to know how we could have had popular and (therefore) lucrative websites (if we’d been interested in popularity over principles), or developed a clique.
There are things more important than money, and far too many who know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.
None of this means that we’re retiring from the world entirely or that we won’t continue to read and comment in the blogosphere. There are other ways to fulfill your obligations as citizens, as people, and as neighbors. We’re simply stepping off the soapbox.
There comes a time when that older voice in the choir needs to step down, to make a place for a younger, stronger voice. Sure, that old guy might still make all the rehearsals and show up come Sunday, ready to do what he has always done, but his voice isn’t as sweet as it once was, nor his stamina as long as it used to be. He may still love to sing, but for the sake of the whole choir, and those sitting in the pews, it is time to step aside.
Maybe, when he does step down, he’ll have time to make a bit more money or save the money he spent getting to all those rehearsals--money he’ll use to help his kids a little more, or save for his retirement years, but the main reason he stepped aside wasn’t because of that.
To everything there is a season, and our time for blogging has reached winter. We’ll still be delighting in the choir’s performance and cheering them on as we always have, but we’ll be mouthing the words to the old hymns from the pews, mostly in silence from now on.
I’ll be spending most of my time observing the world, watching the sailing ships go by, and the sun coming up and setting in (mostly) quiet contemplation.
The baton has been passed and I have complete faith that others will find it and carry it forward.
My best to all and to all a good night,
“The Mrs”
- Happy Thanksgiving (11/27/2008)
- Cooking (11/26/2008)
- Ammo Day (11/19/2008)
- Satire (11/17/2008)
- Intellectual Curiosity (11/13/2008)
Posted 11/30/2008 12:01 AM CDT • Print Vers.
Comments
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Connie-
Thanks so much for everything you’ve done to keep this site, Kim’s site, and the forum up and running over the years.
And more importantly, thank you for your insightful musings on the wide variety of topics you’ve covered. You’re a brilliant thinker and a gifted writer, and I will sorely miss your presence on the ‘net.
Thank you most of all for your advice on the education of children. I’ve printed it, and will implement it with my two young daughters as best I can. It is my hope that I will be able to teach them to think as well and as deeply as you and Kim.
I’ll be keeping you and your family in my prayers. I know you aren’t religious, and I mean no offense, but hope that this conveys the deep respect, admiration and hope for a brilliant future I have for you all.
Take care.
E. Bradley | 11/30/2008 04:58 AM CDT -
Thank you, Mrs. du Toit. For everything.
Heh...I just scrolled down to click the “submit” button and realized there’s no need to check the “Remember my personal information” box. Wow.
Enjoy your retirement. I hope you are one day able to realize your dream of pulling up stakes and entering a life of perpetual travel.
All my best…
JPatterson | 11/30/2008 06:26 AM CDT -
Spoke too soon - I have a request. Would you mind tagging your “Educating Your Children” series (thank you so much for writing it!) so that it comes up when the “Education” button on the top bar is clicked? I have a feeling that I will be reading it repeatedly as long as it is available.
JPatterson | 11/30/2008 06:29 AM CDT -
Best wishes, Connie. Hope your health gets resolved and you and Kim have a wonderful life in your remaining decades. Thanks for all the wonderful and thought-provoking writing.
Bob
Robert | 11/30/2008 07:08 AM CDT -
Mrs,
I knew I wanted to comment on your last post, but didn’t know what to say.Thank you for the thoughtful posts you’ve made, which made me think. You have a way of turning an issue around and looking at it from a different angle, thus forcing me (and others I’m sure) to see that other angle before. Thank you for the times you’ve corrected me when I’ve misunderstood something you’ve written, or have misunderstood a topic, or have been just plain ignorant.
In short, thanks for helping in my education.
The best of everything to you and yours, and I hope to run into you again in some little joint at the side of the information superhighway.
Mark D | 11/30/2008 08:33 AM CDT -
My comments are here.
I will be continuing to blog, slowly and unsteadily, if anyone is interested. I’ve begun to view my blog as more of a repository of essays to be hit by google searches, than anything I intend to have a regular readership. I don’t have the time or ability to build a blog into something like what Kim and Connie have had.
That’s another thing I owe to them. Thank you for the encouragement to speak out, advice on how to survive in a hostile environment, and the webspace to say my piece. The exposure I’ve had to the world is entirely due to you.
Thank you.
American Farmer | 11/30/2008 09:36 AM CDT -
I often hold your websites up as examples of what is wonderful about the WWW.
Thanks.
Slash | 11/30/2008 10:05 AM CDT -
To The Mrs.:
Thank you for your thought provoking commentary. You will be missed.
Now, go and enjoy the sunsets and the dawns, Kim and the kids.
Hopefully, we will meet again!
Donna.
Donna Moore | 11/30/2008 10:46 AM CDT -
Thanks very much for your time and writings over these past years. Enjoy your Catholic Tour, and I wish you all the best for the future.
Roger Ritter | 11/30/2008 10:58 AM CDT -
Thanks, and best of luck in future. Look forward to seeing you around other places.
og | 11/30/2008 11:42 AM CDT -
Thanks for sharing all your words and insights. I came to your web log rather late, but am enriched having done so.
My very best wishes to you and the Mister.
Consul-At-Arms | 11/30/2008 11:50 AM CDT -
bah humbug.
Thank you for all your writing. It has been a pleasure reading the things you have shared with us over the years.
May your next adverture be even more interesting than the last.
pdwalker | 11/30/2008 11:56 AM CDT -
(Cut-and-pasted, from my comment on Kim’s site, as it says almost everything I want to, that I can think of at this time...)
Thank you, Kim and Connie, for a job very well done. Thank you for providing me with an excellent (and humorous) vocabulary when I was recovering from being a liberal and didn’t know yet how to express it. Thank you for calling attention to the strengths of the American nation and giving them their proper due. Thank you for showing us these things, not only through your writing, but through the way you conducted your affairs. Thank you for showing us, even if just a smattering, of what it means to be civilized, and what it means to secure to ourselves and enjoy the fruits of our civilization.
Kim, I’ll envy my father, who had the chance to meet you when I could not (for his biography), as I’ll envy those who could make it to your 9/11 gatherings when I could not, just as I’ll envy those who have had a chance to shoot with you. Eventually, I will join the Nation of Riflemen with my arms, instead of just my heart- I hope your gout won’t be so bad as to allow me at least a few steps of a jolly jig on that day, if not a full blown happy dance! If so, Rx=Indomethacin!
Connie, I thank you especially for what you’ve written on education and childrearing. More than once you’ve settled my fears and reassured me my wife and I are on the right path with our sons. The rest of what you’ve shared with us cannot be overestimated, though, and your penetrating insight will be sorely missed.
Farewell, Connie and Kim. Like your insight, you will be sorely missed. All the best to you and yours, Godspeed, and may the road rise to meet you…
-Michael
// Everwyck (AKA: 51st State)(PS: How can I contact you about the biography, as I assume this e-mail will be defunct?)
Everwyck | 11/30/2008 12:14 PM CDT -
Connie,
I will keep this simple (which for me is exceedingly difficult).
Thank you.
Rob
Rob | 11/30/2008 12:38 PM CDT -
Connie,
Thank you for sharing your wisdom over the years. It’s made me, and many others I’m sure, into better people. Indeed, you have succeeded in keeping the choir on track and improving its performance.
You will be sorely missed.
--Eugene
EugeneInPA | 11/30/2008 01:31 PM CDT -
STANDING OVATION to you and your Husband. As they say: Exit stage left.
Goodbye and Farewell
Sr71 | 11/30/2008 01:47 PM CDT -
Farewell and good luck!
Shannon | 11/30/2008 02:30 PM CDT -
Words to describe my thankfulness in knowing you and your husband do not come easily, and always sound cheap. Maybe my vocabulary is poor, or maybe it’s just that you guys impress me so much.
I tend to think it is the latter.
May your travels be easy, your meals delicious, and your endeavors profitable.
Farewell, you beautiful woman, you.
fast_rope71 | 11/30/2008 02:33 PM CDT -
The human being always looks down when he is examining another person’s standard; he never finds one that he has to examine by looking up.
M TwainI am woe to contradict Mr. Twain, however, I believe that in you and Kim, we have had the pleasure of reading two outstanding contradictions to the above quote. For you Dear lady, set the standard(s) to which the rest of us had no choice but to look up to.
May your road go ever onward toward whatever future holds.
Guy S | 11/30/2008 02:44 PM CDT -
Goodnight Connie.
Ray
Rusty Ray | 11/30/2008 03:08 PM CDT -
Thank you Connie for all the effort over the years. Not only in keeping the sites up and working, but in thought and effort to put your essays up for us to read and learn from. Our family is deeply involved in education - public, private and home-schooling - and your writings on education have been inspiring and educational.
May you and your family enjoy the best this world has to offer. God Bless…
Dadx4 | 11/30/2008 03:16 PM CDT -
It saddened me a bit to recognize this morning that this would be the last time I would come to your wonderful site and see new material.
Thank you for all you and your husband have done. I’ve learned a great deal, and I intend to pass that on to others.
May you be treated in retirement as well as you have treated your thankful guests.
Jordan | 11/30/2008 03:19 PM CDT -
Thank you for everything.
You do realize that you should have time to write a book or two...the only question being whether it should be “Escape From the Valley of the Dolls” or “The Gun Rack That Ate The House” that gets written first.
Mike of the Duelling Pistols | 11/30/2008 03:48 PM CDT -
Thanks for all you have done, from one of the remnants.
lenf | 11/30/2008 04:33 PM CDT -
Connie -
Thank you for all your well thought out writing that you have given us. I thanked Kim on his site, so this is for you.
Although I do have to admit that I’m a little bit behind and reading your website (usually I would come over here when Kim pointed over this way). Maybe now I can print some of them out and catch up.
Hate to see you guys go but I very much understand the reasons… especially now.
My best wishes -
Brian Durham
Fort Worth, TexasBrian | 11/30/2008 05:11 PM CDT -
I want to thank you for all that you’ve given us. It is MUCH appreciated. We’ll miss you.
Maggie45 | 11/30/2008 06:04 PM CDT -
Connie,
I’ve learned as much from you about homeschooling and being a good parent as I’ve learned from Kim about The Gun Thing as well as other conservative issues. I wish you a happy and productive retirement. To close, I’ll echo my comment on Kim’s last blog.Thank You
Thank You
Thank Youskb12172 | 11/30/2008 06:08 PM CDT -
Thank you, and have a happy retirement.
ShouldWhen I get to the point where I have children, I will certainly remember you and get in touch if I need advice on keeping them out of public school.George guy | 11/30/2008 06:27 PM CDT -
Connie - Thank you for thinking out loud, and sharing your thoughts with “the choir.”
Best of luck to you & Kim - you’ll be sorely missed.
Mary/A Proud Veteran
AProudVeteran | 11/30/2008 07:03 PM CDT -
Connie,
Thanks for all the years of hard work, advice and insight!Andy | 11/30/2008 07:13 PM CDT -
Thank you kindly for all you’ve shared. Good luck and take care. I’m going to copy the recent homeschooling series, because I think we’re going to take the plunge.
All the best,
Ken Hall
Fairview Park, OhioMiddleAgedKen | 11/30/2008 07:33 PM CDT -
You and Kim will be missed. Thanks for taking the time to preach to the choir, both of you.
And damn it, you made me feel guilty; I’m in the choir at church, and didn’t go today.
Herr Morgenholz | 11/30/2008 07:42 PM CDT -
And thanks for your advice. I only wish I had taken it more and earlier.
Don Meaker | 11/30/2008 07:47 PM CDT -
*APPLAUSE*
Thank you.
Timothy Stephens
Davenport, IowaDr. Feelgood | 11/30/2008 08:20 PM CDT -
Connie, take care and God bless.
RayH | 11/30/2008 08:22 PM CDT -
(Gulp.)
I’d been hoping you’d change your mind, but that was wishful thinking. I’m so sorry to see you go, and I will miss this blog like you wouldn’t believe. You and Kim gave something wonderful to this world (especially to my world), and while this is a sad occasion for me, you are certainly going out with style, and class!
The very best to you both in whatever you do.
Eric Scheie | 11/30/2008 08:46 PM CDT -
Thank you so much. Go! Rest! You deserve it!
John Wilson | 11/30/2008 09:03 PM CDT -
Whenever I was able to wrap my attention span around your content, I’d always find myself hopelessly engrossed. Thank you, and best of luck with whatever else you next work on.
Darx | 11/30/2008 09:10 PM CDT -
Dear Connie,
Thank you so much for your deeply thoughtful writing on so many subjects. Some days I wouldn’t stop by, because I knew I hadn’t the time to enjoy and digest what you offered, but I always made an effort to catch up, because your thoughts on so many things were worth hearing and enjoying.
Your family would be a delight for dinner conversations, and if you are ever this way, the Hotel Webb is almost always open. Now run along and take care of your newly freed prince while the rest of us mourn our loss.
Dick Webb
Richmond, Virginiadick | 11/30/2008 09:32 PM CDT -
Connie-
Thank you, my dear, dear lady.
I just don’t know what else to say.
Mark Shaw | 11/30/2008 10:15 PM CDT -
Many thanks to you both. You have caused me to re-examine some of my beliefs and ocasionally modify them. You have inspired me to try to improve myself. I will miss reading you both.
fast richard | 11/30/2008 11:22 PM CDT -
Thanks for all you’ve done, Connie. You’ve enriched many lives, including mine. I’ll miss your and Kim’s blogging terribly. All the best to you and your family. Luigi
Luigi | 11/30/2008 11:27 PM CDT -
Connie,
It’ll never be farewell, g’nite or g’bye here.
Obviously, you won’t be continuing to grace us with your insights and wisdom.
Still, there’s enough here. You’ve left behind a legacy. One to be proud of, at that.
We’ll keep coming back to renew, over and over again. I know I will.
So, for all that it’s taken from you to give all of this to us, on my own behalf, I thank you.
Enjoy the retirement, enjoy the travels. Very well earned, I’d say.
Best always,
Jim
Sloop New Dawn*
Galveston, TX*destroyed by Ike
Jim | 11/30/2008 11:33 PM CDT
