I keep leaving, but coming back. I really do think it’s not as bad today as it was yesterday, but my opinion may be tainted.
I will say this. I’ve been close to leaving the site a couple of times in the last month or two, and it wasn’t because of the anti-rudy people (some of whom’s POSTS I find harsh, rude, and downright vulgar), but because it was becoming a place where I felt depressed about conservatism after reading it.
FR had been a place for me to get news and hear the optomistic conservative response, to see the cogent arguments to use to stop liberal thought, to watch as conservative principles were developed into answers to the problems that face our country.
But in the last couple of months, everything I hold dear has been under attack under the banner of defeatism, that belief that conservatism is dead, that we have to get over it and move on, that social liberalism is the answer to our rebirth, and that if I don’t see it I’m stupid, ignorant, and responsible for the death of the unborn.
I’m used to putting up with that on some liberal boards I read, but this was my own back yard, at the house of JR, a man whose principles I agreed with, and those invited to sit at the picnic table were stealing my chips and sticking “kick me” signs on my back, and plotting to burn down the oak tree and tear down the fence and invite all their liberal buddies to the party.
I think I went to far with that analogy, but my point is that we conservatives need a place NOT where our ideas are unchallenged, but at least where it is our ideas that are debated, and debated with facts, rather than a place where we will be called names and lefty inuendo and downright lies will be thrown at us by people who insist they are better conservatives than we are.
The way most of us deal with the depression is to find niches where we can retreat to, so we can come back refreshed. For me, oddly enough, my best retreat is a thread on news about the WOT. But FR is filled with places like that where we can discuss, share, and make connections so we can fight the good fight.
You aren’t the only one feeling depressed. I look at the news and wonder, Lord, what is going on? Are you intentionally blinding people?
But today, I make this promise: I will not go easily into that dark night the enemies of my country both from without and within want me to go.
I have been rereading the history of the founding of this nation and know it’s a dream worth passing on. And I will not give up. I will pass it on!
JimRob’s taking a stand has given me a chance to reignite my hope.
IMO, the hypocrisy of SOME of the Rudy bashers has been glaring. I have my doubts that SOME of them even care about the sanctity of life. They're just using it as a weapon against anyone who dares support Rudy.
There are better ways to deal with political conflicts, and there are DEFINITELY better ways to deal with moral conflicts.
“But in the last couple of months, everything I hold dear has been under attack under the banner of defeatism, that belief that conservatism is dead, that we have to get over it and move on, that social liberalism is the answer to our rebirth, and that if I don’t see it I’m stupid, ignorant, and responsible for the death of the unborn.”
Lets welcome the changes. They are already working!