ibtz.
:^P
Posted on 12/05/2009 2:02:24 PM PST by Awestruck
This is no emo swan song, so please don't take it as such.
I'm starting to see things in certain kinds of "conservatives" that I don't like.. things that the left is accusing us of turning into truths.. like knee jerk reactionism... like hate for the sake of hate...like judging people not on their character but on their appearance... like supporting the government even when its wrong as long as its Republicans running the farm.. like following straight party lines in all things... i.e. "republicans are always right, democrats are always wrong..".. I've done a lot of growing in the past 2 years.. and I've learned some things.. I understand more of the reasons why conservatives and christians tend to get villified.. its not our message that's wrong..its the way we spread it to others sometimes... My own philosophy is this: I am a Christian, who believes in the worthiness of innocent human life, minimal government, self sufficiency, strong penalties for strong crimes, legalizing drugs, gambling, and prostitution (which does not mean I support it but don't think they should be criminal activities), I believe in the importance of giving what we can to help our fellow man, I believe that the "justice system" in this country is flawed and broken, I believe that we should associate with all types of people, just as Jesus did, and not immediately judge people by what they look like, or what political or religious associations they hold, until they prove themselves unworthy of association. I don't believe that government should be involved in any way in ANY relationship issues between (and read this carefully) consenting adults. I am tired of dealing with curmudgeons who will not look at things in a practical, reasonable manner on here, but react straight from the gut level, without any real though associated with it, because that's what liberals do. So I'm taking a break. I'll be back when there's a political action issue that I feel I need to deal with, in the meantime, this is a good place for open debate, and information, and I would encourage others to try it out. But I'm too tired to fight right now.
The reason I did this publically, was because in spite of my seeming 5 year date stamp, I’ve been here longer than that under other names, and I didn’t want the people who know me on here to think I’d dissappeared or something bad happened to me. But I also wanted to be very honest about the reason I was leaving. Those of you who don’t understand my position will never understand, no matter how much I explain it. Many thanks to those of you who supported me, regardless, you know who you are.
“I’ve been here longer than that under other names”
Thats what they all say.
ibtz.
:^P
Well how the hell do you know that?
“like judging people not on their character but on their appearance”
Um, appearance is part of character, and since when did a conservative measure conservatism by what liberals think anyway?
ROTFL
Well, who knows? Maybe she's like the do-gooder hostess in this video.
Taking a break is a good idea.
One can get burned out here quickly.
Enjoy the hiatus.
We’ll leave a light on for ya.
I’m not talking about the postings, I’m talking about the discussions and debates that get underway in the comments section of posts.
Don’t think there are protectionists on FR? There are, plenty of them, and their rhetoric is no different than the protectionist rhetoric coming from labor unions, full of long-debunked economic fallacies about “stealing jobs” and so forth. I have personally been called a “traitor” and a “socialist” for advocating free unfettered trade between nations, which shows you how ignorant some people are of what socialism is. Protectionism and socialism are ideological cousins, they just have different methods and different motives—they produce similar results.
As for borderline racists, they’re here too. As for real racists, they’re here too but usually their rhetoric gets them censored or banned.
And there’s plenty of jingoistic, xenophobic, “America-is-God’s-country-everywhere-else-is-satan-worshipping-commie-terrorists” on here too. First and foremost I’m a Christian, and that kind of talk is highly offensive. I don’t think America is good or evil, it is just a country, a legal and social construct. People are good or evil.
The populists are what I call “Wal-Mart Republicans.” They are in favor of all sorts of big government programs and government interventions into peoples’ lives—so long as they are the ones guiding the power. These are the people in favor of using tax-payer money to fund their kids’ sports teams, debate teams, extracurricular activities and all expenses involved with it. They are in favor of using tax-payer money to fund whatever private enterprise they are in favor of (sports stadiums, shopping centers, etc.). Instead of making the mistake that thinking war doesn’t solve anything, they’ve gone the opposite way and think war solves everything.
Statism is the opposite of liberty. Regardless of what form it comes in—fascism, socialism, communism, Keynesianism, protectionism, etc., it produces similar results.
It wouldn't be honest to say that there weren't examples of each of those viewpoints here on FR. But that's what comes of having an open forum with (relatively) free speech.
It's a cliche I suppose but the vast majority of FReepers are good solid (occasionally silly) people who care a lot about this country and each other, I think, even though they argue about stuff as though this were a war zone. Well, maybe it is.
It's pretty clear you have to be a bit rough-and-tumble to survive on Free Republic but that is also its strength. It also gets to be too much if you are serious about a certain point of view and the crowd just either doesn't agree or isn't taking it as seriously as you are at the moment.
Your instincts seem pretty good. Take a break. Hopefully you'll come back soon and rejoin the fray.
Why are you saying that to me? I’m not the one leaving, I just said I sympathized with the OP.
Oops. Just woke up. Sorry.
I do that to my husband too. ;-)
It’s official....balls are gone
LOL! My wife does the same to me, too!
I for one hope you return soon, as you played an integral role in my own return to this site... which is quite funny considering that I met you elsewhere and this is my first interaction with you here! :)
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