Daveinyork: “And how would you propose to choose those virtuous individuals who would manage that large government that will force us all to be virtuous?”
Your response is typical of the libertarians on this thread. Point out where I or other social conservatives are advocating big government to “force us all to be virtuous.” I’m only pointing out it’s impossible to have small government when the vast majority of citizens are not virtuous.
I’m not calling for federal dictates to force them to behave. However, that doesn’t mean all levels of government need to turn a blind eye to social ills. For example, support for marriage would be a good start. Letting communities set their own standards would be another. Eliminating programs that subsidize immoral behavior would be a biggie.
You seem to think socons are ready to break down your door to see if you’re watching porn or smoking a bit of weed. That’s not necessarily true. Some might, but most of the ones I know just want government to stop siding with the cultural barbarians.
“Point out where I or other social conservatives are advocating big government to force us all to be virtuous. Im only pointing out its impossible to have small government when the vast majority of citizens are not virtuous.”
What would you have this medium sized government do about the unvirtuous? I say “medium sized” because you said you don’t advocate big government, and you say that it’s impossible to have a small government. The only other choices are medium sized, or none at all. Surely you don’t advocate anarchy, do you?
Then I'm a socon of that latter kind. You may be right that the former kind are in the minority - but they sure do seem to make the most noise.