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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 01/18/2003 3:00:52 PM PST by Timesink
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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We really can't help it. It's that damn reptilian brain stem buried in the midbrain that does it everytime. In all seriousness, except for "fight or flight" the drive to reproduce is the most powerful controlling agent in our body.
You may be able to live with that, but I doubt the majority of the conservative base can. :-)
(Not coincidentally, didn't our nation have a similar conversation on another vice back in the 1920s? Prohibition anyone?)
That makes two of us.
Its kinda sick and they seem prone to do bad things.
Do you ever personally look at pornography?
Yes.
Would you look down on someone who had an affair while married?
In most circumstances. Do you believe sex before marriage is morally wrong?
No.
The fifth question was whether religion was very important in the voter's life.
Not organized religion per se.
Bump.
I agree. The conservative base can have just about the entire pie if it gives just a little while the totalitarian intolerant left stands to lose it all. Conservatives need to learn to drawn the line in the sand between the rules of their religion and the things that they should not have any say over because it steps on others personal freedom.
Conservatives need to learn strategy. They need to learn how to be relentless and crush the left. Once you do that you can get more of what you want without opposition.
"Not withdrawl Sir..., Redeploy!"
Yes, Thank You!!!
Otherwise conservative republicans act like democrats...they both actively want the government to enforce certain codes and standards...they just differ on "what" those codes and standards are.
There is a lot of that going around. Caught it myself.
So9
My dubious response if premised rather on the fact that I see Republican clumsiness, rather than the moral issues, per se, as a major factor in these reactions. Had we had more skilled spokesmen, who understood what is really essential and what is not, in terms of traditional sexual values, and discussed the underlying issues from that vantage point, many who reacted negatively to what they saw as a repressive attitude, would not have done so.
It is too late to go into this at great length at this time. My own views on sex and sexual conduct are reflected in my writing; and while on the surface may seem too liberal for some of my fellow Conservatives; properly understood, are really more Conservative than almost anyone else's. (See, for example, The Feminist Absurdity, for example.)
Let me, however, for the sake of brevity, simply suggest what the Republican response to the five inquiries should have been:
Do you believe homosexuality is morally wrong?
Most certainly. However, I do not believe it to be the function of Government to go out of its way to harass people suspected of certain private practices with other adults. On the other hand, we cannot accept the studied campaign in the media and entertainment industry, to make us accept homosexuality as normal. [Put the emphasis where it should be, on who is actually picking on whom there.]
Do you ever personally look at pornography?
My viewing habits, as yours, are no one's business but my own. However, I think Society does need to act to protect children obtaining distorted images, at ages when they have no basis on which to judge or really understand what they are seeing. Society has always acted to protect the innocent, and that means some strictures on what may be shown where and to whom.
Would you look down on someone who had an affair while married?
I ascribe to the policy of trying not to judge the personal lives of other people, where their actions do not involve me. As a gentleman, I really do not want to know anything which could compromise the reputation of any woman (whether wife or mistress). That does not mean that I approve of particular conduct. It does mean that I believe in a non-judgmental privacy. What the media appear to be promoting, of course, is a whole other subject.
Do you believe sex before marriage is morally wrong?
I am not a hypocrite. Nor have I ever judged the girls who accommodate bachelors by a harsher judgment than those bachelors. On the other hand, there are valid moral reasons for a double standard, which reflect both natural and moral concerns--both as to the birth of children and the strength of the marital institution--which is vital to a healthy society. It is just not for me to be judgmental of any individual. (On the other hand, I take a very negative view of people having children out of wedlock, and expecting others to support them.)
The fifth question was whether religion was very important in the voter's life.
Yes. But I do not judge those, who feel that they cannot believe strongly in anything they cannot see.
I realize that my answers will seem a gross "cop out" to some. But they reflect not only my personal tolerance, but an understanding of where Government in a free society can and cannot go. I can assure you, also, because they are indeed my responses, that I have no problem with expressing them and explaining them to those whom the writer suggests would otherwise reject the more Conservative candidate.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
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