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Posted on 06/13/2002 8:27:39 AM PDT by christine
Why I'm not a conservative
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
I've said it before and I'll say it, again: I am not a conservative.
This comes as a shock to some people. We have come to view politics in America in this paradigm of right vs. left, conservative vs. liberal, Republican vs. Democrat.
I tell you that is no choice at all.
I don't like the label "conservative." I reject the label. With all due respect to my "conservative" friends, I find the description detestable, extremely unflattering, simplistic and an insult.
Let me tell you why.
Conservatives, by definition, seek to conserve something from the past – institutions, cultural mores, values, political beliefs, traditions.
What happens when a society moves so far from righteous values and freedom principles that there is little left to conserve?
That is where I believe America finds itself in the early part of the 21st century. Let me give you some examples of why:
the breakdown of the institutions of marriage and family;
the inability of many to distinguish between right and wrong;
the consolidation of power in Washington and in the executive branch;
the breakdown in the rule of law;
the usurpation of power by unaccountable supra-national agencies;
infringements on personal freedoms
increasing vulnerability to weapons of mass destruction and government's unwillingness or inability to address such a basic concept of defense; What do these and other problems our nation is facing have in common?
Today we have a federal government that acts without regard for the Constitution. What's the conservative prescription for that? Has "compassionate conservative" George W. Bush reversed unconstitutional government or continued it? Can you defeat unconstitutional government by putting your finger in the dike to prevent more?
No, it takes a radical agenda to defeat a radical agenda. Conservatives have no stomach for fighting – the kind of fighting it takes to restore real freedom to America.
It's not a time for timidity or compromise. It's not a time for defensiveness and conciliation. It's time to take the offensive in this struggle.
I'm not a "conservative" because I see precious little left in this world worth conserving. Conservatives, from my experience, do not make good freedom fighters. They seem to think a victory is holding back attacks on liberty or minimizing them. They are forever on the defensive – trying to conserve or preserve an apple that is rotten to the core.
What is the rotten apple? You can see it in the government schools that dumb down American kids. You can see it in the universities that pervert the concepts of knowledge and wisdom. You can see it in the federalization and militarization of law enforcement. You can see it in the proliferation of non-constitutional government. You can see it in the real "trickle-down economics" of confiscatory taxes. You can see it in the unaccountable authorities which give us global treaties. You can see it in the relentless attacks on marriage and the family. You can see it in euthanasia, population control and the phony "right" to abortion on demand. You can see it in the surrender of our national security.
It's all got to go. But how? Politics as usual will never get us there.
Conservatives, it seems to me, only forestall the inevitable slide into tyranny. I don't want to forestall it. I want to prevent it. I want to reverse that slide. I want to restore the dream that was America.
Was George Washington a conservative? No. He was a revolutionary. He is known throughout the world – or was when people appreciated such concepts – as the "father of freedom."
Today, those who stand for freedom, justice, the rule of law, self-government and the moral principles of the Bible are not part of "the establishment." We're the rebels. By the world's standards, we're the renegades.
The founding fathers knew that even the best designed government wouldn't work if the people were not righteous, moral and God-fearing – if they didn't love liberty and cherish it.
To practice self-government again, we must have a people capable of self-government.
It takes courage to stand in the gap, to man the barricades, to say "enough is enough" – and mean it. It takes more than a "conservative" vision to lead the way back to freedom.
i could add a few names that we've been called: whackos, malcontents, disrupters, tinfoilers, conspiracy theorists, bushbashers, blame america firsters....
...America-hater...
Rather Orwellian that those who advocate a Constitutional Republic in the United States of America should be called those names.
Recent events have revealed that those who want to abandon the Constitution and find exceptions in time of crisis are those who really didn't believe in it to begin with.
Hear that, Sean Hannity?
Thank you Registered!
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
We're not conservatives... we are "counter-revolutionaries".
I like!! :-)
2)[T]he consolidation of power in Washington and in the executive branch; the breakdown in the rule of law; the usurpation of power by unaccountable supra-national agencies; infringements on personal freedoms
I broke the list into two separate groups to illustrate a point. Group one factors tend to cause group two consequences.
To paraphrase one of the founders: those who will not govern themselves will be governed by tyrants.
That's wonderful, Joseph. I am proud of you. However, you forgot to tell us exactly what you ARE.
I'm for all the things that you are for. We've just not reached the boiling point as a nation where we can list out our grievances and make a call to arms.
I'll tell you what, Joseph. You find a way to get the sheeple interested in returning to our Constitutional roots, and I'll join in behind you. Until that time, I am doing what I can -- teaching my kids about our founding, our fore-fathers, and how to get back there. It is practical, and it defeats the leftists at their own game.
By mushing the minds of children over the last 30 years, the left has advanced their socialist agenda.
We MUST raise the next generation of leaders for this country, if it is to be saved.
Homeschool bump!
PS - visit pocket declaration.org to see how to get our children to read the Declaration of Independence. We have to get our children to understand Liberty at an early age.
Our Constitutional Republic will self-restore when Americans self-reform. That means rejecting irresponsible sexual behaviors (which lead to the breakdown of the family, the evil of abortion-on-demand etc) including so-called homosexual marriage, devil-may-care substance abuse etc. It means adopting, supporting, and living a God-based personal morality of right and wrong even if one does not consider oneself particularly religious.
As John Adams said, our Consititution was made for a moral and religious people; it is wholly unsuited to any another.
Can you show evidence of the existence of Group one factors in American society in the early 1900's that led to the massive expansion of federal government and consolidation of power in DC under Wilson and FDR?
Once a 'conservative' gets elected, all the talk about freedom gets shoved down the memory hole and suddenly the importance of government power to control people's behavior becomes important. In the last couple of elections, 'conservatives' have lost, because they opposed the lottery and opposed medical marijuana. Pro-freedom, pro-personal responsibility ideas get trashed in favor of some religio-moral crusade.
'Conservatives' can win, if they become pro-freedom and stay in power as long as they act on that pro-freedom agenda. "Stay out da' Bushes". George H W Bush experienced the biggest political collapse in American history. Why? He raised taxes, he signed the quota bill, he signed the ADA, he signed the Clean Air Act. He supported the out of control IRS and BATF. He backed the jack-booted thugs instead of the freedom of the American People. He went from 91% approval rating to getting 34%, while people desperately tried to turn him around on the freedom issue.
George W Bush is heading down the same path. The only thing holding him up is the war. Dubya said the 9/11 attacks were attacks on our freedom. Well, shouldn't our response be more freedom? Where is it? Where's our liberty going? He's doing nothing, but going along with the liberals. He's to the left of Feinstein and Boxer on terrorist profiling for Pete's sake.
As the article points out, we need to have the courage of Peter and Paul and the other disciples, and that of great leaders like George Washington, to re-establish our country as it should be. As Christ feared no scorn, neither should we.
I agree. Kevin seems to think it's the other way around, so I'm trying to determine if he can objectively support that theory.
Rather than calling myself "conservative," I simply give my positions on the issues at hand: pro-life (by which I mean the law should punish abortion as homicide), against the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Amendments, etc.
Agreed. However, the pulpit and each Christian fulfilling his personal calling is the key to this, not unleashing the government upon the citizenry.
There is a bill board in town that reads:
"The abortion clinics in this town operate with the permission of the churches of Jesus Christ."
People cannot become moral through external pressures, only by internal cleansing and education. You cannot stop gambling by banning it. It must come from the inside out, not by government edict.
Its good to know that I am in good company afterall. All eyes must be on the Constitution or we're screwed.
Alot of conservatives are still stuck in the '60's. They are still defending "law and order" against the radicals and hippies. Someone needs to shake them out of their coma and tell them that the radical, socialist hippies won. They grew up, got a haircut, put on a suit, and began infiltration. They are now in charge of every major institution that conservatives used to take pride in defending. They run education, health care, law enforcement, even the military, which they once hated. Ironicly, they are even drug warriors now. Hell, one of them was even POTUS for 8 years. Yet some of our more "seasoned citizen" conservatives still defend these fallen institutions with blind passion.
The 60's are over. We are the radicals we once fought. It's time to realize this and re-adjust the game plan, folks.
I no longer refer to myself as a conservative when discussing politics because the word has been so bastardized that anything to the right of Teddy the Swimmer Kennedy is considered conservative!
Think I'll just hang my hat on Constitutionalist. If the country were to get back on track of what the Founders gave us, it would be perfect. You see, I disagree with Churchill and others about our Constitution not being perfect but its the best the world's had to date. Our Founders were brilliant--they planned for the future better than any yahoo in the political or academic arena today.....they knew times could change--they included the Constitutional Amendment process to handle this.
I get a kick out of the mentally deficient who bitch that 'the CA process is too hard or its impossible'.....yeah.....right....that's exactly why it is set up the way it is! Changing governing policies should be a hell of a lot more difficult than changing a pair of shorts every morning {or evening}!!
As much as I would hate to see it, if Carter had managed to get Congress to write up a Constitutional Amendment authorizing the federales to jump into education, and it had gone through the process and was accepted, I could live with it--because they followed the Constitution I so love and respect. NOTE: I would still enocurage everyone to homeschool regardless because government is incompetent.
That's the way it appears to me. According to Kevin's theory, the way to get rid of big government is for everyone to try to be just like him, and big government will simply evaporate of it's own accord.
So I guess the word "conservative" really ticks you off, eh? WAHHHHHHH!
This article seems so be founded on the asinine idea that the term "conservative" refers to people who support (or at least are weak in the face of):
the breakdown of the institutions of marriage and family;
the inability of many to distinguish between right and wrong;
the consolidation of power in Washington and in the executive branch;
the breakdown in the rule of law;
the usurpation of power by unaccountable supra-national agencies;
infringements on personal freedoms
That doesn't sound like the conservatives I know. We are not "for" unconstitutional government and tyranny, we are for fighting it.
>>I'm not a "conservative" because I see precious little left in this world worth conserving.<<
Well, why don't you dig a hole, jump in, and pull the hole in after you? I do see things worth conserving and preserving. The Constitution, Liberty, Freedom, Rule of Law and Self-Government.
This article seems to be a blistering rant against the word "conservative." To what end? Okay, bid deal, you don't like the word "conservative." You're a "revolutionary". Or you're "Big Bird." Sheesh, lay off the term willya? Big deal.
My suggestion: quit aiming your cannon at a label, which is all it is.
I would say "constitutional revolutionaries".
I think "constitutional reactionaries" would be more appropriate.
We've already lost that battle to the disciples and heirs of Gramsci and the cultural marxists that now dominate ALL of our major institutions.
And that is why we're headed for another American Civil War.
Thank you for writing this, it sums up my take quite well. I have had it with folks bleating, "Well, when we're in a time of war, blah, blah, blah ..." as some kind of justification for stuff going on and I'm a bit confused. Has Congress passed that Declaration of War yet? Or did I miss them voting an open-ended extension of time to the War Powers Act, whereby the president can get to do what he wants as long as he wants, no Congressional control whatsoever??
Yeah. This boils my blood, too.
You forgot shooting anyone who doesn't agree with your idea of morality.
If you are a "reactionary" it intimates that you are reacting to the opponent.
If your opponent acts first you have lost the initiative.
I want to be the one that acts first and make them 'react' to me.
Admittedly, that is going to take a while to be able to do.
I still don't want to get into the mindset of 'reacting' when I should be initiating.
Admittedly, that is going to take a while to be able to do. I still don't want to get into the mindset of 'reacting' when I should be initiating.
I think you're confusing "reactionary" with "reactive".
Benjamin Franklin
You libertarians are part of the problem.
Though I agree with the statements you made following the above assertion, I do not agree that our Republic will self-restore. Too much power has been consolidated among too few. Our country is run by an elite oligarchy, who impose their will, under the guise of a voters' mandate. We've already lost our freedom and no one....NO ONE...is going to give it back. If it is to be, it will have to be taken. And I don't think enough Americans have the stomach for it.
Same root word, 'react'.
Not to quibble semantics, would you rather hit or be hit?
While they may have the same root, they have very different meanings. I don't make 'em up, I just use 'em.
reactive: 1.Tending to be responsive or to react to a stimulus.
2.Characterized by reaction.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
revolutionary: 1. a.often Revolutionary Relating to or being a revolution: revolutionary war; a museum of the Revolutionary era.
b.Bringing about or supporting a political or social revolution: revolutionary pamphlets.
2.Marked by or resulting in radical change: a revolutionary discovery.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Pretty similar as opposed to revolutionary.
Still, as long as we return to the constitution I don't really care what we're called.
That "return to the constitution" part is what makes you a reactionary. A revolutionary wants to discard the whole works and start over. A liberal wants to screw with what we've already got. A conservative wants to keep what we've got, just like it is. A reactionary wants to go back to what we had before the liberals screwed with it.
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