Posted on 09/20/2010 8:59:59 AM PDT by julieee
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. And you are exactly right that a “small” government can be evil. (Though the smaller the government, the easier it is to rebel against it if it becomes truly evil.)
However, a small government is a limited government. Therefore, by definition, its reach into the individual’s life is much reduced.
The other thing I think is relevant to your point is that under our system of government we don’t have just one government. We have, at the minimum, TWO powerful governments, federal and state. So limiting the size of the federal government still means there is “a whole lot of government going on,” if you know what I mean.
Many of the functions you bring up, good points, would be handled more exclusively by the states. They wouldn’t just be left to anarchy. But the good thing about that is that this would allow the people greater opportunity to influence exactly what those laws were and HOW they are implemented, enforced, and punishments exacted.
This is how fiscal conservatism — leading, it is hoped, to limited federal government — advances social conservatism in the states — limited federal government makes it much easier to, as you state, get rid of bad laws, because those laws would be at the state level.
Right now a state may be very desirous of getting rid of pro-homosexual laws, for example, but the people of that state CANNOT get such states laws passed because the feds will strike them down. Get the feds out of the way and then you have daylight to make progress on social causes at the state level.
Former UN Representative, African-American, ALAN KEYES had previously heard pro-abortion statements throughout the day of the gathering of the present Republican candidates for President in New Hampshire on February 19, 1995. A passion came over him. He stepped up to the microphone at that banquet and gave the following speech:
I am actually from the great state of Maryland, where my ancestors have lived for the last 200 years, sometimes as free men and women and sometimes as slaves.
And I realized as I was listening to the speakers who came before me that I come at an important juncture in this program. Because I think that the great alternatives have been laid before you tonight. And we Republicans are going to have to decide again, as we have had to decide in the past, whether we shall only speak of justice and speak of principle or whether we shall stand and fight for them! Whether we shall quote from the words of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE with real conviction or whether we shall take that document and throw it on the ash heap of history as we adopt the message of those who say that we can stand silent in the face of injustice!
When it comes to deciding whether we shall stand by the great principle that declares that all human beings are created equal and endowed by their Creator with the right to life, there is no choice for silence! THERE IS NO CHOICE FOR SILENCE!
And I can tell you right now, that those who are recommending that we pull the "Pro-Life" plank out of the Republican Party platform are recommending as some people decided in the Whig Party in the years before the Civil War that they would be silent on the great issue of principle that faced this nation, we shall be silent. The Republican Party grew up as a Party aimed at dealing with that moral irresponsibility. At standing on the principle that Lincoln articulated, that 'You can not have the right to do what is wrong.'
And I'll tell you, we have heard a lot of people tonight. They talk about the money and they talk about the budget. But you and I both know, if we are willing to look ourselves in the eye what the truth is. Why is it that we spend so much money on welfare and illegitimacy? Why is it that we spend so much money on crime and violence in our streets? Why is it even that we spend so much money dealing with the problem of irresponsible behavior that contributes to the decline of the health of this nation? I think you all know in your hearts what the real answer is. We don't have MONEY problems. We have MORAL problems. And it's time we stood up and faced that truth!
And I don't know how, I don't know how we're going to face that truth. If as what's suggested here today we can look our daughters in the eye and tell them that it is somehow consistent with freedom for them to trample on the human rights of their unborn offspring.
We're going to have find the courage one of these days to tell people that freedom is not an easy discipline. Freedom is not a choice for those who are lazy in their heart and in their respect for their own moral capacities. Freedom requires that at the end of the day, you accept the constraint that is required, the respect for the laws of nature and nature's God that say unequivocally that your daughters do not have the right to do what is wrong, that our sons do not have the right to do what is wrong. They do not have the right to steal bread from the mouths of the innocent, they do not have the right to steal life from the womb of the unborn.
And I'll tell you, some people may say, that if we stand up and we speak out and we fight for that principle we'll be dividing the Republican Party. But I don't think so. This Party was born on a clear commitment to principle. This Party was born of those who had the courage to stand before the American people and in the face of the threat of a greater division than we'll ever face, insist that we had to respect the principle that make us great, the principles that make us strong, the principles that make us free.
Look at what's happening in the streets of our cities, look at what's happening to our families today. Do you think that the decline of marriage and the moral disillusion of the family is a money problem? Or do you think it's a problem that comes from putting the self first from deciding that there are no obligations that have to be respected and that at the end of the day, freedom is just another kind of empty licentiousness? We know better and our Founders knew better and it's time that we get back to the truth. They did not tell us that freedom would be an easy road. They offered us a true vision of the future of America. It was NOT a vision of licentious freedom and stupid self-indulgence. It was a vision of freedom based upon the fear of God and the respect for law.
And why is it, that out of the mouths of all our statesmen and we hear all these great emotional words but they won't speak the simple truths that our Founders from Washington through Jefferson to Lincoln and every President spoke until we got to our own cowardly times? We are not going to remain a free people if we insist on being a corrupt and licentious people. We are not going to remain a free people if we arrogate to ourselves the right to destroy the rights of others. And that's exactly what we are doing when we embrace the so-called "pro-choice", the truly pro-abortion agenda.
My friends, I think it's empty to praise the courage of the men and women who have died in the service of this country's freedom and its principles and yet decide that we shall lack the courage to stand up for those principles, many or few, or even alone if we must. Because that is in fact the courage that built America.
This nation was not as some would have us believe a dream of material progress and prosperity and great cities and mountains of money. I'm glad that we have achieved that prosperity, even though it came at much expense to some of my forebearers. Those who toiled in the depths of slavery, they had an understanding of the real dream of American freedom. It's the dream of moral dignity that comes from respecting our true moral capacity. It's the dream of self-government that comes from respecting the fact that in the end, freedom is not just a choice, it is not just an opportunity. It can be a burden and a sacrifice and an obligation. And above all, it is the obligation to respect the truth of our moral identity. That moral identity can unite us across every line of race and color and creed so long as we have the courage to stand for it.
Now I think you know by now, looking at the Clinton Administration, that if we as Republicans abandon that line of principle, it will surely be abandoned in America. But I can also tell you this in warning, that if you abandon that line of principle, there are Americans who will fight few or many, alone if we must, to make sure that it prevails. And in every point in our history, when we had the choice between right and wrong, in the end, this country chose what was right. And we can be grateful for it. And I think we shall do so again, because we know that the real heroes in America are those in their families and in their daily lives respect the truth that we must meet the obligations and sacrifices of freedom before we claim its privileges and benefits.
And if that means as well that 'come what may.' Even if it means that we must sacrifice in our personal lives we have to stand where our Founders stood on the belief that you cannot have the right to do what is wrong, but that if we build self-government on a true adherence to the principles of justice, then we shall hold up a beacon of right and hope for all of human kind to understand the true destiny of mankind. Thank-you"
The audio of this powerful speech is HERE.
New tagline...
There’s no conflict between fiscal conservativism and social conservativism.
“Given your own post there, how will you determine who is a “real” conservative?”
Real conservatives are Reagan conservatives that accept all three pillars of conservatism, economic, social, natsecurity.
“Moreover, if a person won’t commit to fiscal conservatism, in my view, they don’t understand the United States Constitution”
Real conservatives accept fiscal conservatism.
“If it were easy to find people who fit your standard, that would be one thing. But it isn’t. That’s the whole reason we’re having this discussion.”
No we’re having this discussion because a young conservative outed himself as merely a fiscal conservative, not a true 3 pillar Reagan conservative.
“Waiting for the perfect conservative to run in all 400+ House districts, etc., will destroy our country.”
Sounds like a good excuse to elect Mike Castle, Snowe, Collins and invite Specter back. Just kidding, it’s a terrible straw man though.
That’s a real shame, Paul Ryan once had presidential potential. I hope that he, Hailey, and Mitch will enjoy what is left of their political careers in the offices they now hold. Our more conservative leaning political climate is flushing these RINO’s out into the open where we can all see them for the frauds that they are. They are all too liberal, and too stupid, to be president.
I get it. So we have to prioritize money over dead babies.
Thanks for the clarification.
Ryan along with babies just killed his future as a great political leader, lost the blessing of The LORD and the support of all caring people. He shot himself right through his own political heart.
You obviously suffer from willful ignorance, a disease more commonly found in liberals.
I’m sorry you don’t seem to see that political acts have multiple consequences and sequelae.
Hope you aren’t one of the ones who causes even more babies to be killed by failing to vote to defeat the party of death.
Good night.
Of course there isn't.
The "conflict" is created in the mind of the voter who doesn't accept that advancing BOTH fiscal and social conservatism, whenever we have the opportunity to do EITHER, is necessary and the right thing to do.
The "conflict," it appears, is that many social conservatives view a committment to fiscal conservatism as automatically dismissing social conservatism.
>> Some Pro Lifers can be so politically stuck on stupid..
You insult Pro Lifers without justification, and draw a strange analogy between the respect of life and the indulgences of taxation.
Butchering the unborn is okay in your book?
Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God.
- George Washington
They are the ones causing it to become an issue.
No... One issue republicans are probably RINOs..
Maybe religious zealots or cultists.. or some other nervous condition..
This site is about preserving even restoring this Republic..
It is NOT a church.. or do-gooder institute..
I am a pro-lifer but that is only one of the issues at hand..
Abortion is not the only important issue..
Butchering this Republic is WHY? most are here..
You know to STOP IT...
Odd that someone who practices willful ignorance would use a quote referring to wise and honest.
“Prudence is the characteristic of exercising sound judgment in practical affairs. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four Cardinal virtues”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudence
these issues seem to be matters involving prudence. Then again, prudent people don’t rely on advice from Paul Ryan (or any other congressman).
Look at yourself. I refuse to agree with a political position regarding traditional values, so you hate me. I don’t hate you.
Could you point out where I said that?
Can you point out where I said anything approaching that?
Can you point out where I even hinted at that?
I didn't think so.
This is an issue that involves politics, not prudence.
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