Attorney General William Barr highlighted on Friday during the Federalist Society’s 2019 National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C., the reason why conservatives are at a fundamental disadvantage when it comes to fighting the political Left.

“This highlights a basic disadvantage that conservatives have always had in contesting the political issues of the day. It was adverted to by the old, curmudgeonly Federalist, Fisher Ames, in an essay during the early years of the Republic,” Barr said. “In any age, the so-called progressives treat politics as their religion. Their holy mission is to use the coercive power of the State to remake man and society in their own image, according to an abstract ideal of perfection. Whatever means they use are therefore justified because, by definition, they are a virtuous people pursing a deific end. They are willing to use any means necessary to gain momentary advantage in achieving their end, regardless of collateral consequences and the systemic implications. They never ask whether the actions they take could be justified as a general rule of conduct, equally applicable to all sides.”

“Conservatives, on the other hand, do not seek an earthly paradise. We are interested in preserving over the long run the proper balance of freedom and order necessary for healthy development of natural civil society and individual human flourishing,” Barr continued. “This means that we naturally test the propriety and wisdom of action under a ‘rule of law’ standard. The essence of this standard is to ask what the overall impact on society over the long run if the action we are taking, or principle we are applying in a given circumstance, was universalized — that is, would it be good for society over the long haul if this was done in all like circumstances?”

In a section of his prepared remarks, which he skipped over, Barr added, “For these reasons, conservatives tend to have more scruple over their political tactics and rarely feel that the ends justify the means. And this is as it should be, but there is no getting around the fact that this puts conservatives at a disadvantage when facing progressive holy far, especially when doing so under the weight of a hyper-partisan media.”

WATCH:

AG Bill Barr are on fire here as he calls out Progressives for treating politics as a religion. “Their holy mission is to use the coercive power of the state to remake man and society in their own image.” They’ll use “any means necessary in achieving their end … ” pic.twitter.com/VYFt5qUrnu — (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) November 17, 2019

Earlier in his speech, Barr hammered the political Left for their resistance to President Donald Trump ever since the first day of his presidency.

“Immediately after President Trump won election, opponents inaugurated what they called ‘The Resistance,’ and they rallied around an explicit strategy of using every tool and maneuver available to sabotage the functioning of his Administration. Now, ‘resistance’ is the language used to describe insurgency against rule imposed by an occupying military power,” Barr said. “It obviously connotes that the government is not legitimate. This is a very dangerous — indeed incendiary — notion to import into the politics of a democratic republic. What it means is that, instead of viewing themselves as the ‘loyal opposition,’ as opposing parties have done in the past, they essentially see themselves as engaged in a war to cripple, by any means necessary, a duly elected government.”

WATCH: AG Barr: Democrats Are ‘Engaged In A War’ To Cripple, Sabotage Trump Administration