Conservatives Understand World Religion—It’s Time You Listen

Stop. Now.

Mitchell Royel is a political analyst and conservative commentator focused on emerging trends in American political discourse.

An Open Letter to Democrats and Faux New Age Gurus: Stop Questioning Our Religious Literacy

To the Democratic establishment and the self-appointed spiritual guides who've dominated cultural discourse for decades—this message is for you.

We see you. We hear your assumptions. And frankly, we're done with your condescension.

You've built an entire narrative around the premise that conservative Christians operate from ignorance—that our positions on world religions stem from narrow-minded provincialism rather than informed conviction. This assumption isn't just wrong; it's intellectually dishonest and culturally arrogant.

The Knowledge You Refuse to Acknowledge

Many of us have spent years studying comparative religion, philosophy, and cultural anthropology. We've read the Quran cover to cover—multiple translations. We understand the Five Pillars of Islam, the complexities of Sunni-Shia divisions, and the theological nuances that separate various Islamic schools of thought. We've studied Buddhist philosophy, from Theravada to Mahayana traditions. We comprehend the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the intricate details of karma and rebirth across different Buddhist interpretations.

Our libraries contain works by scholars across the religious spectrum. We've engaged with Hindu philosophy—the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita. We understand the concept of dharma, the complexities of caste systems, and the theological diversity within Hinduism itself. We've studied Sikhism, Jainism, and various forms of mysticism. We comprehend the historical development of these traditions, their internal debates, and their philosophical contributions to human thought.

This isn't superficial Wikipedia browsing—this is serious, sustained academic engagement with world religious traditions.

Your Intellectual Arrogance Exposed

When we critique certain aspects of world religions or express concerns about cultural practices, you immediately assume ignorance rather than informed disagreement. This reveals more about your own intellectual limitations than ours. You've created a false binary: either uncritical acceptance or ignorant rejection. This binary doesn't exist in serious intellectual discourse.

We can simultaneously respect the intellectual contributions of various religious traditions while maintaining principled disagreements with specific theological or cultural elements. This isn't ignorance—it's intellectual honesty. Something your movement seems incapable of recognizing.

To the new age gurus who've monetized spiritual confusion—your syncretic approach to world religions demonstrates the very superficiality you project onto us. You cherry-pick elements from ancient traditions, strip them of their cultural context, and repackage them for Western consumption. This isn't enlightenment; it's cultural appropriation disguised as spiritual sophistication.

The Real Issue: Your Discomfort with Conviction

Your problem isn't our lack of awareness—it's our unwillingness to abandon our convictions in the face of cultural pressure. You've confused intellectual understanding with moral relativism. We can comprehend the internal logic of various belief systems without accepting their ultimate truth claims. This distinction seems to escape your understanding entirely.

Intellectual courage means maintaining principled positions even when they're culturally unpopular. We've studied these traditions precisely because we take ideas seriously—seriously enough to engage with them honestly rather than dismissing them or absorbing them uncritically.

Your assumptions about our intellectual capacity reveal your own prejudices more than our limitations. We're not going to apologize for maintaining Christian convictions after serious study of alternatives. We're not going to pretend that all religious traditions are equally valid simply to satisfy your pluralistic sensibilities.

Our statements about other religions emerge from knowledge, not ignorance—from conviction, not confusion. When we express concerns about certain cultural or religious practices, we're speaking from informed positions, not prejudiced assumptions.

The narrative that conservative Christians are intellectually inferior or culturally unaware is a convenient fiction that allows you to dismiss our arguments without engaging their substance. This intellectual cowardice ends now.

A Challenge to Your Assumptions

We challenge you to engage with our actual arguments rather than your caricatures of our positions. Stop assuming ignorance when you encounter disagreement. Stop conflating cultural sensitivity with intellectual surrender. Stop pretending that serious study of world religions must lead to your conclusions.

We've done the work. We've read the texts. We've engaged the arguments. Our Christian convictions aren't the product of intellectual laziness—they're the result of serious engagement with the alternatives and a reasoned commitment to what we believe represents truth.

Your discomfort with this reality doesn't change it.

The conversation continues—but it continues on terms of mutual intellectual respect, not condescending assumptions about our awareness or knowledge. We're here, we're informed, and we're not backing down.

To my fellow conservative Christians: intellectual courage remains our most potent weapon. Stay informed. Stay principled. And never compromise your convictions for momentary cultural acceptance.