Given the inherently limited nature of the conservative worldview, it is in fact doubtful that it could, on its own, make conservatives happy. Conservatism is a political theory—not a comprehensive philosophy. It does not purport to answer life’s most important questions. In fact, it refuses to do so, believing that such matters are the proper domain of religion or philosophical inquiry.

In other words, you cannot simply be a conservative. You can have a conservative temperament and espouse conservative political positions, but conservatism, on its own, cannot and does not pretend to define a person. For example, Bill Buckley’s Catholic faith loomed larger in his life than his conservatism. As my colleague, Lee Edwards, likes to say: “man does not live by politics alone.”

Liberalism, by contrast, has broader reach. While it does not claim to be a comprehensive way of life—in fact, it aspires to be resolutely non-judgmental in matters of private conduct—it does seem to function as one for many liberals. If, as some have argued, modern liberalism is a secular religion which gives the religious impulse a non-theistic outlet, then one would expect to find many liberals who espouse liberalism with religious zeal. A visit to any elite college campuses provides ample confirmation that this is indeed the case.