You make some good points, especially if FR is meant primarily for social conservatives.
This may sound kind of uninformed on my part, but I hadn’t really picked up on the fact that FR is strictly a socon site, I’d figured it for just “con” up until this week, though I’d certainly noted early on that libertarian thought is met with scorn by many freepers. Even though libertarianism in its boiled down essence runs pretty parallel to the definitions of conservatism put forth by Jim Robinson’s defintions of conservatism the last few days (except with belief in God not being a requirement for libertarianism).
It looks to me as if this entire fracas is about social conservatism vs the other strains of it.
From the front page
Statement by the founder of Free Republic:
In our continuing fight for freedom, for America and our constitution and against totalitarianism, socialism, tyranny, terrorism, etc., Free Republic stands firmly on the side of right, i.e., the conservative side. Believing that the best defense is a strong offense, we (myself and those whom I’m trying to attract to FR) support the strategy of taking the fight to the enemy as opposed to allowing the enemy the luxury of conducting their attacks on us at home on their terms and on their schedule...
continued here.
....
As a conservative site, Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Constitution, pro-Bill of Rights, pro-gun, pro-limited government, pro-private property rights, pro-limited taxes, pro-capitalism, pro-national defense, pro-freedom, and-pro America. We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc. We also oppose the United Nations or any other world government body that may attempt to impose its will or rule over our sovereign nation and sovereign people. We believe in defending our borders, our constitution and our national sovereignty.
....
It looks to me as if this entire fracas is about social conservatism vs the other strains of it.
***I agree. But socon conservatism is fine with others coming on board & joining in, that’s why FR became such a great place. If someone crosses that line where they disagree with the founding principles, they have no further than themselves to look for the blame regarding all the pain that gets caused.
You make some good points, especially if FR is meant primarily for social conservatives. ... This may sound kind of uninformed on my part, but I hadn’t really picked up on the fact that FR is strictly a socon site, I’d figured it for just “con” up until this week, though I’d certainly noted early on that libertarian thought is met with scorn by many freepers.
***Sam, I’m pinging JimRob not because I want to get you in trouble, but to ask him to put that socon stuff prominently on the front page of the website rather than as a click-through. People like you have been here for 5 years and didn’t realize they were on a socon site. I’ve run into some people that cross the line & denigrate social conservatism and nothing happens to them because socons want to play nice, but eventually enough is enough. It should really be clear on the front page, that might help to avoid some conflagrations in the future.
All of the libertarian freepers that I am aware of are still posting here and are all against Rudy.