Posted on 06/13/2002 8:27:39 AM PDT by christine
Why I'm not a conservative
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
I've said it before and I'll say it, again: I am not a conservative.
This comes as a shock to some people. We have come to view politics in America in this paradigm of right vs. left, conservative vs. liberal, Republican vs. Democrat.
I tell you that is no choice at all.
I don't like the label "conservative." I reject the label. With all due respect to my "conservative" friends, I find the description detestable, extremely unflattering, simplistic and an insult.
Let me tell you why.
Conservatives, by definition, seek to conserve something from the past institutions, cultural mores, values, political beliefs, traditions.
What happens when a society moves so far from righteous values and freedom principles that there is little left to conserve?
That is where I believe America finds itself in the early part of the 21st century. Let me give you some examples of why:
the breakdown of the institutions of marriage and family;
the inability of many to distinguish between right and wrong;
the consolidation of power in Washington and in the executive branch;
the breakdown in the rule of law;
the usurpation of power by unaccountable supra-national agencies;
infringements on personal freedoms
increasing vulnerability to weapons of mass destruction and government's unwillingness or inability to address such a basic concept of defense; What do these and other problems our nation is facing have in common?
Today we have a federal government that acts without regard for the Constitution. What's the conservative prescription for that? Has "compassionate conservative" George W. Bush reversed unconstitutional government or continued it? Can you defeat unconstitutional government by putting your finger in the dike to prevent more?
No, it takes a radical agenda to defeat a radical agenda. Conservatives have no stomach for fighting the kind of fighting it takes to restore real freedom to America.
It's not a time for timidity or compromise. It's not a time for defensiveness and conciliation. It's time to take the offensive in this struggle.
I'm not a "conservative" because I see precious little left in this world worth conserving. Conservatives, from my experience, do not make good freedom fighters. They seem to think a victory is holding back attacks on liberty or minimizing them. They are forever on the defensive trying to conserve or preserve an apple that is rotten to the core.
What is the rotten apple? You can see it in the government schools that dumb down American kids. You can see it in the universities that pervert the concepts of knowledge and wisdom. You can see it in the federalization and militarization of law enforcement. You can see it in the proliferation of non-constitutional government. You can see it in the real "trickle-down economics" of confiscatory taxes. You can see it in the unaccountable authorities which give us global treaties. You can see it in the relentless attacks on marriage and the family. You can see it in euthanasia, population control and the phony "right" to abortion on demand. You can see it in the surrender of our national security.
It's all got to go. But how? Politics as usual will never get us there.
Conservatives, it seems to me, only forestall the inevitable slide into tyranny. I don't want to forestall it. I want to prevent it. I want to reverse that slide. I want to restore the dream that was America.
Was George Washington a conservative? No. He was a revolutionary. He is known throughout the world or was when people appreciated such concepts as the "father of freedom."
Today, those who stand for freedom, justice, the rule of law, self-government and the moral principles of the Bible are not part of "the establishment." We're the rebels. By the world's standards, we're the renegades.
The founding fathers knew that even the best designed government wouldn't work if the people were not righteous, moral and God-fearing if they didn't love liberty and cherish it.
To practice self-government again, we must have a people capable of self-government.
It takes courage to stand in the gap, to man the barricades, to say "enough is enough" and mean it. It takes more than a "conservative" vision to lead the way back to freedom.
Try paying attention, Mr. Counter.
Try reading, Miss Dyslexic!
You libertarians are part of the problem.
You'd probably say that anyone who is promiscuous and repeately bears or conceives children out of wedlock is immoral.
I've never conceived a child outside wedlock.
Ben Franklin did.
And you have the audacity to quote someone who wouldn't pass the morality test today, to quote and slam people like me.
See that rolling donut? Take a flying leap.
Atheist secular materialists through evolution removed the foundations...made the absolutes relative and call all technology evolution(science) to substantiate their efforts--claims...social engineering--PC!
Liberals/Evolution BELIEVE they are the conservatives too!
What's left?
Atheist secular materialists through evolution removed the foundations...made the absolutes relative and call all technology evolution(science) to substantiate their efforts--claims...social engineering--PC!
Liberals/Evolution BELIEVE they are the conservatives too!
What's left?<<
I'm so CONFUSED!!!
Free Republic is funded solely by donations from readers.
Donations and official correspondence should be mailed to:
Free Republic, LLC, PO Box 9771, Fresno, CA 93794
Support Free Republic by secure credit card.
Send PayPal direct to JimRob@psnw.com
Bump
I'm curious. Are you Michael Conder aka London? The computer game player?
Now you've gone and done it, you rebel rouser.
They are a minor pain in arse for conservatives and the conservative movement. Actually, libertarians/Libertarians/Constitutionalists/Reformers/Natural Lifers, are so insignificant in the big picture of American politics, they don't even show up on the radar screen at election time. Outside of FreeRepublic, they're never heard. harry browne received 384,440 votes, or 0.036% of the total votes in the last presidential election. Even Pat Buchanan beat out Browne.
Don't listen to these misfits, malcontents and militants. Fringe extremists and reactionary absolutists, one and all.
Specifically, I don't think that slowing the destruction of our society is always a bad thing. If we can't turn the tide in the right direction, slowing the descent is not a bad thing. The typical mindless argument against it is the boiling frog analogy, but this argument is silly. People are not frogs. Their political choices are not based on reflex but on evaluation of their situation. The problem we have is that they are evaluating the situation wrongly. I expand this idea at We Are Not Frogs.
An example of a great American president who typified this approach was Abe Lincoln and his approach to slavery. President Lincoln was a full-fledged moderate on slavery. He thought that it would be better to buy the slaves and free them than to go to war over the issue. He promised that slavery would not be hindered in the South in any way while he was president. His only action against slavery was that he wouldn't let it expand into the territories.
As a result of this stance, Mr. Lincoln was disliked by most of the anti-slavery movement. They thought that he wasn't sufficiently committed to the cause. They thought he was weak and indecisive. However, John Brown didn't free any slaves, and most people have never heard of most of the other members of this movement. In fact, neither Brown nor most of the others could have held the country together and ended slavery as well as Mr. Lincoln did.
I'm the first to criticize President Bush when he says or does something stupid. There's nothing wrong with criticizing an idea or action because it is the wrong action to take. However, the generalization that he (or anyone else) won't accomplish good things because he is "conservative" in the sense of not being radical enough is wrong.
WFTR
Bill
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.