We are, but I don't consider strong criticism of Santorum to be an "irrational attack". If he wins the nomination, I will vote for him. In the end, most people here will too.
I know that there is a slice of conservatism that resents and rejects moral absolutes
There are indeed a lot of what some people were calling "South Park Republicans" for a time. Mostly young people adapting to the changing world. We are in the information age now, it's a world you just can't stop from rapidly changing no matter how much you wish you could. They are certainly more libertine, but largely agree with traditional conservatives on economic issues. Ron Paul has gotten the attention of some of these voters, but not most. Like it or not, the new generation of conservatives are going to be focusing far more on economic, foreign policy and defense issues rather than re-fighting long ago settled social value arguments over contraception and porn. Try to re-engage those battles in a political setting and you'll just end up alienating people.
but I think your comparison of Christianity and basic decency with Islamic fundamentalism is way, WAY off base.
You seem to be missing the point. Western Christianity has been successful, Islam has not. Christianity teaches right from wrong, but the societies it has molded tend to allow more free choice and free will. Islam has been stuck in place for centuries precisely because it tries to squelch free choice and free will. Without oil money, Islamic nations are a complete basket case. Even with it this is largely the case. It is no accident that the only really successful Islamic country has been Turkey, and it got that way by limiting the power of the Mosque and the reach of Islamic religious leaders.
The problem is, many of the people we call social conservatives are not small government conservatives at all. They are for small government only until it comes to the moral issues that really drives them to vote, then they want an intrusive government to attempt to solve the social issues they consider most important. Pat Robertson actually won some primary states in 1988 and got over a million votes before he dropped out. One of Robertson's campaign planks was to ban porn. Mike Huckabee did quite well in 2008 and he was most certainly not a small government conservative. There are a significant number of socon voters who are really focused on voting for who they deem the most God fearing, who can quote scripture best, etc. Many of these voters are simply not limited government conservatives at all.
While interesting from an intellectual point of view, the debate is largely pointless anyway. The information age we are now will, in the end, make it impossible to crack down on porn anyway. Governments will find it more and more difficult to regulate or stop people from seeing, reading and sharing what they want. They will try though, and I think you will find that the governments who attempt to do this are the very ones least interested in individual rights and most interested in state control of the populace.
Oh, I understand this, Longbow. Most under 30's, even in the Christian community don't recognize sin as sin. They have been thoroughly inculcated by the leftist culture led by the Marxist agenda to destroy the country.
But recognizing the problem doesn't mean we have to ignore it, especially when the future viability of the country is at stake. If we don't try to stanch the flow of the lifeblood of the country.....being GOOD......we are lost as a nation, no matter what our economic policies may be.
They are certainly more libertine, but largely agree with traditional conservatives on economic issues
Right. They are liberal cheapskates - no moral values, and their economic 'conservatism' stems from their selfishness, and not from any value system. And they are running wild all over this formerly conservative forum (I think JimRob calls them 'spam monkies'). They don't represent conservative values at all. They are just self-absorbed cheapskates.
The problem is, many of the people we call social conservatives are not small government conservatives at all.
Of course, some are not. There are people with Christian values that have no sense of economic conservatism. They are the opposite of those with no values who want small government (again, most likely because it will not interfere with their personal appetites).
Both groups are only partial conservatives. That's why those of us who are across the board conservatives need to keep making our points to the uneducated on either side of the spectrum.
I tend to hit harder on the moral side because I don't want America to go the way of Rome.....into total degradation, debauchery and death.
There are obviously freepers who don't care, but I will never be one of them, so I will continue to pray, and I will continue to pound on the importance of America's being the moral bastion that has kept it thriving for more than 200 years.
If the young libertines get their way, the country will die. Soon. And apathy from those of us who know better is, for me, unpardonable.
Moral Americans are educable. Libertine punks are too arrogant to learn from people they dismiss as 'moralists.'
We'll have greater success in arriving at complete conservatism if we work on the moral, patriotic folks than the "ME generation" egomaniacs.