Posted on 06/14/2003 8:18:22 AM PDT by TLBSHOW
What is a conservative?
by Kyle Williams
What is a conservative? This is a question that has recently become an issue in the conservative movement.
Many pundits have separated conservatives into two groups: paleo-conservatives and neo-conservatives. The former being described as the "old right-wing," being more constitutionally conservative, and the latter being the more moderate side of the conservative movement. As a side note, some conservative pundits say that "neo-conservative" is really code word for pro-Israel, considering the trouble that the far right has gotten into with some bashing Jews. That, however, is not the original meaning of the "neo-conservative" word, from my point of view.
Another issue arises as to whether you can truly be a conservative and forget morality. A recent column by David Horowitz blasted some on the religious right for their criticism of the Republican National Committee and Marc Racicot meeting with leaders from the Human Rights Campaign. With homosexual pundits – like Andrew Sullivan – and organizations, such as the Log Cabin Republicans, the debate becomes fiercer.
These two issues come back to the real question: What is a conservative?
A true conservative is one who observes the governmental philosophy of the founders and the forgotten document called the "Constitution." The philosophy of self, limited government – a constitutional republic – goes hand in hand with morality, based on God's guidelines. That is what a conservative is, at its root.
Delving into issues, conservatism is an approach that is against abortion – with great respect for the sanctity of life, is for less taxes, and for less government, with a philosophy of government which always allows for more freedom.
This is in contrast to a definition of liberalism. It is easy to define conservatism because it basically conserves the freedom-loving ways of America's heritage, but liberalism is a completely different word that does not attach itself to anything tangible. However, those who claim to be liberal tend to support bigger government, more taxes, abortion and socialist ideas – all mixed with a lack of morality.
For many, a big reason for not being a conservative is looking at those who claim to be conservative. The political figureheads of the conservative movement become hypocritical at times. Unfortunately, many in national politics claim to be conservative, but are not, and continually misrepresent what it really means to be a conservative. Conservative leaders have nothing to hide behind, but liberal leaders can and do hide behind emotionalism.
National politicians tend to be somewhere in the middle. Many adopt conservative ideals when it is convenient, and some adopt liberal ideals when it is convenient – all in an effort to gain more power.
As a nation, we debate politics, not principles. That's the problem. After so long, we tend to forget what our real agendas are and the only driving goal is power. After politicians gain power, all they work for is a goal of re-election. Thus, when the only goal is to get Republicans in power in an effort to deprive the Democrats of power, they sometimes forget why they wanted change in the first place.
That is the reason I have a problem with the Republican Party and that is the reason why I doubt I will register as a Republican in four years. The national platform is that of a goal of political power, compromise and lack of conservatism. When you get so far up on the political totem pole, power corrupts – this is evident in many who claim to be conservative, but whose only goal is power.
Some policymakers, political consultants and politicians within the GOP need to be reminded what a true conservative is. At its core, conservatism is the conservation of the limited, constitutional republican form of self-government, mixed with the morality of God's laws and guidelines.
A true conservative is one who observes the governmental philosophy of the founders and the forgotten document called the "Constitution." The philosophy of self, limited government – a constitutional republic – goes hand in hand with morality, based on God's guidelines. That is what a conservative is, at its root.
But when one who meets those charactaristics begings to force those ideal upon others, then they no longer can be Conservatives. I don't know what to call them, but there are plenty here on FR that would be glad to force 'conservatism' and 'morality' on others at by the force of law and point of gun. They would be happy to jail or exterminate opposing or dissenting political views.
There needs to be an identifying name for this group to separate them from Conservatives.
Nice article, Kyle. Please ignore the mod behind the curtain and join in the discussion.
What crappy thing to do with the title!
Yes, this has been an ongoing part of their (the Democrats') tactics for years. They'll try anything. In fact, sometimes it seems like every couple of days one of these scumbags throws up a vanity thread here on FR with the phrase "neo-con" in the title. The idea, of course, is to divide and conquer.
I've always considered it laughable and I rarely click on those threads anymore because they are boring. But hey, I guess if they believe they can lure a few naive youngsters like this Kyle Williams into a wholly fabricated, non-issue "debate" then maybe it's worth it.
By the way, I also get a laugh out of those jargon-bending threads with the phrase "neo-confederate" in the title - - now there's a phrase that helps confuse the easily confusable.
(LOUD APPLAUSE!!!)
I am always delighted beyond words when somebody "gets it".
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