As a social conservative, I do not support the homosexual lifestyle as a societal norm or that special rights should be granted to those choosing this lifestyle. However, I also find no basis upon which to force my beliefs politically on another person or to demand that another person agree with me as liberals and progressives do. As a social conservative, I pursue a more libertarian republican path leaving others alone within the confines of their personal lives as long as they are not abusing or hurting others.
The contributors to the ARRA News Service will continue to share, write or promote positions on social issues. But, we do not expect laws to be passed demanding that everyone march lockstep in agreement with our positions. While we will express warnings about societal deterioration, I believe in redemption and restoration through the Lord Jesus Christ as the only answer to our sins. And, as a conservative, I will share my views but obviously no one has to adhere to my viewpoints.
I believe that the great American experiment was blessed by God and has allowed for maximum freedom and minimum government interference in our lives. There is significant evidence that our forefathers as a whole followed in general Christian principles and beliefs. However, they were, as we are, not perfect people. Primary problems arise people promote government's restrictions of individual freedom. Based on history, totalitarian and "ism" forms of government take away the freedoms of the people regardless of their beliefs. These forms of governments or supporters of these forms of government pit people against each other seeking to beat them into submission.Those that do not conform are eventually outcast, incarcerated or eliminated.
Conservatives should be able to unite politically under the umbrella of fiscal conservatism and limited government. While some of us may be social conservatives, national defense conservatives, or "whatever" all conservatives should by now understand that expanding government regardless of the "alleged just cause" leads eventually to tyranny and loss of liberty first for someone and then for everyone. And, being fiscally irresponsible leads to "enslavement" and will lead to the eventual downfall of the Republic (a topic for another day). Conservatives must ignore the efforts of the left to divide us and to weaken our efforts as conservatives to restore our Republic.
GayCons: Defusing the Bomb by RightHandMan, Sentury Journal: Conservatism encompasses many things, and morality is one of them. Conservatives proudly subscribe to John Adams’ quote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The Constitution requires moral people because liberty is dangerous when supplied to the immoral. Conservatism, a lover of liberty and constitutionalism, absolutely requires moral foundations in order to survive. When the moral fabric of a people erodes they begin to place responsibility on governments to control the behavior of men.
The left in this nation has long subscribed to the fallacy of individuals and the superiority of a centralized few. When misdeeds are carried out by citizens the left runs to government and liberty fades. The outcome is a regulated whole. When the regulators’ morals drift, the nation is forced to comply accordingly. If the few in charge are amoral then a completely dependent people are segregated from that which is good.
It concerns me when I see bloggers buy into the left’s lie that conservatism doesn’t accept individuals for who they are. Over the past week much has been made of certain social conservative groups protesting CPAC due to the inclusion of GOProud, a gay conservative organization. Words like “civil war” and “crossroads” have been used to describe the rift. I’m not buying it.
Let me start out by saying that I am the strictest of Social Conservatives. I challenge anyone to search my blog to find anything contrary to that statement. I know, however, that conservatism in its truest nature is accepting of a broad range of individuals rather than patronizing them for power as the left does. At the same time, I do not support or approve of homosexual behavior. Until now, I have never made that statement on a political blog – and there’s a reason.
Many people of the Christian faith have a problem with my political stance in regards to homosexuality. I was against DADT and I was against the “marriage amendment” for the simple reason that they contradict conservative political principles. Many social conservatives have fled to the federal government due to what is viewed by many as a moral decline. The glitch in this campaign is that government can neither stop nor thwart homosexuality. Further, by creating such an amendment to the Constitution, we will have given in to the notion that Government, not G-d or man, is the ultimate authority to marriage, relationships, and personal contracts. The truth is that government shouldn’t be able to define marriage or have any standing in the matter – it should be between people and their religious beliefs. Centralizing our moral authority, or worse, giving them the keys to defining what is moral, is the reaction of liberals, not conservatives.
That said, not all who have come to the defense of GOProud have done so in the purist form. Most tout the left’s mantra of the “hate filled right” and speak of equality in tones that could be mistaken for Gloria Allred. Somewhere in all of this the rights of the social conservatives were forgotten. In a fairly recent debate over homosexual marriage I found myself in the corner of supporting gay marriage (I support the lack of government inclusion in the process as mentioned above, not the act itself). When I gave my view, never before heard by this left leaning crowd, I became their hero; but I was soon an island. I found myself disgusted with the hypocrisy with regard to acceptance and respect. Anyone from the right who prefaced their view with a strong Christian foundation was mocked and ridiculed as if such a base were invalid or infantile.
The same can be said of some who have spoken against the groups pulling from CPAC in protest. Is their Christian-based argument not valid? If their view, according to principles rooted deeper than political alignment, defines homosexuals as people akin to participants of incest or bestiality, would you expect less than a protest? Would you support the speech of a strict conservative at CPAC who also happens to have 15 wives in Utah?
I think that we must all tread lighter than we currently are. I would be willing to bet that if we could reanimate Thomas Jefferson to speak at CPAC there would be countless numbers from every social conservative group out there. I’m sure most would overlook the affections he shared with the married Maria Cosway or the rumored relationship with Sally Hemings in hopes that he would set his “separation of church and state” statement straight.
In fact, I don’t remember the social protests in response to Newt Gingrich’s participation last year. Newt did, in fact, cheat on his wife and then marry his adulterous lover. Is that less egregious than being gay? Granted, Newt isn’t defending his affair, but then nobody is trying to write legislation to refute the legitimacy of his third marriage. I also do not recall hearing such moral outrage in some of the top blogs that adhere to “rule #5” – that is, posting pictures of barely clothed women for boosts in site traffic.
The fact is that our social behavior and political positions aren’t always going to align. Ideally we should separate that which is behavioral and that which is political. My personal relationships and responsibilities take on a far different approach than that of my political ideology. Any gay friend of mine would certainly know where I stand in regards to sin and homosexuality; but never would they find me shirking my religious and moral obligations to a system of government. Ironically, groups like GOProud wouldn’t likely exist if it weren’t prompted to in response to such forces.
My advice is that we defuse this explosive situation by taking the politics out of it. Social Conservatives shouldn’t use politics to promote heterosexuality any more than GOProud should use politics to promote homosexuality. It should be a private matter settled outside of the halls of government. I assure you that if we continue to parade in this storm under this political umbrella, the umbrella will become a lightening rod and we will all burn.
Now go back and read that Danbury Baptist association letter.
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