I think you’re right in absolutely everything you said.
But I wanted to comment a little more about the “most people are moderate” part.
Sadly, most people don’t know what it means to be “moderate.” And they therefore don’t know that on many key issues, there IS no “moderate” position.
For instance, regarding abortion. A woman is either killing an innocent human being - her own child, to make it even more monstrous - or she is not. If the former, then there cannot be a justification for abortion. If the latter, then the most radical view of abortion is fine.
But there isn’t a “moderate” position that unites both views.
What ends up happening on these issues is that the radical leftist position is defined as the “moderate” position. And a good “moderate” sees abortion as the right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy at will, versus the humanity of the child who is being killed. And we must focus solely on the rights of the mother, which presuppose the duty of a baby to die for the convenience of her mother, and the duty of a father to stand by while his son is murdered.
The same way with marriage. If marriage is an institution ordained by God to make one man and one woman into one flesh, then there is no possible rationale for abortion. If not, then let us change marriage into whatever we want. Where’s the “moderate” view? Again, the radical leftist view becomes the “moderate” view by media fiat.
I personally believe we need a lot fewer “moderates” and a lot more people of virtue.
You said:
The same way with marriage. If marriage is an institution ordained by God to make one man and one woman into one flesh, then there is no possible rationale for abortion.
I think you meant “there is no rationale for same sex marriage”?
Just checking. Great points. The “moderate” crap is just leftist creep. At best it means someone who has no moral compass but goes with the flow, checks which way the wind is blowing, whose viewpoitns are based on whimsy or digestion or polls, etc.