CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR SAYS LIBERALS WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING

When conservative commentator M. Stanton Evans says liberals are wrong about everything, he is being a bit facetious.

But not entirely.

"It is a cheap way of gratifying conservatives and provoking liberals," Evans said by way of explaining the title of his talk.

Evans spoke to a crowd of about 60 students, professors and other politically-minded individuals Monday at Academic Auditorium.

But there is some truth in the statement about liberals, Evans said.

"The deeper meaning ... is my contention that liberals are wrong about all the details because they're wrong about all the fundamentals," Evans said.

The key to his argument is this: The liberals' approach to government is flawed because they assume that religious faith and government should be kept completely separate and that the Founding Fathers intended it to be that way, he said.

In Evans's view, all that is completely backward.

"Religion is no threat to freedom because freedom derived from religion," he said. "Our forefathers were not secularists and the First Amendment was not intended to stop things like prayer in school."

Evans said America was founded on Christian principles and that it used to be a Christian nation. He said Christian wording can be found in the Declaration of Independence, more proof of America's religious roots.

"If you want to know where the idea came that we were all created equal, read the Bible," Evans said. "The message of the Bible is that we are all children of God and equal in that regard."

Evans is the director of the National Journalism Center, chairman of the Education and Research Institute in Washington, D.C., and publisher of Consumers' Research Magazine.

He said that he is a conservative journalist and that in today's media, that is an oxymoron.

"That's like saying jumbo shrimp or rap music, or my current favorite, Senate Ethics Committee," Evans said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

From 1960 to 1974, Evans served as editor of the Indianapolis News. He was a commentator for CBS television from 1971 to 1974, CBS Radio Network from 1971 to 1979, and National Public Radio from 1980 to 1982. He was also a nationally syndicated columnist from 1973 to 1985.

Evans has authored many books, including "Revolt on the Campus," "The Liberal Establishment," "The Politics of Surrender," "The Future of Conservatism," "The Lawbreakers," and "Clear and Present Dangers."

After receiving his bachelor of arts degree from Yale University, Evans did graduate work at New York University and received an honorary doctorate of law from Syracuse University.

The lecture was sponsored by the Southeast Missouri State University Conservative Club, Student Government, College Republicans, Young America's Foundation and radio station KZIM.