Moby makes some great interesting points on his blog about the current state of the GOP and conservatives in 2007.
As I mentioned earlier, it seems like the “top runners” for the GOP nomination want to argue about who’s more conservative than the other. For some reason it brings to mind, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”
But either way, Moby asks, “What does it mean to be a conservative in 2007?” He gave his list and I want to share my thoughts (surprise surprise Rick Reynolds ;-))
I don’t know if my thoughts make me a conservative or not – I’d consider myself more of a moderate – but see what you think and share your thoughts.
a-you have to believe that jk rowling is a proponent of witchcraft. – I haven’t read the books, not because I think they’re evil, I’ve just never been interested in them. And I have no problem with people who do read them. From what I have read, especially recently, it would appear that Rowling is a bigger proponent of Christianity than anything else. But like most things, we have a tendency to shun the things we don’t understand.
b-you have to believe that dinosaurs pulled plows for farmers in ye olde biblical times(you laugh, but creationists actually believe this). – I have no problem believing dinosaurs roamed the earth before the flood. Scripture tells me that Adam named all the creatures of the air and sea. Seems unlikely that he would name all but the dinosaurs and that somehow they were extinct before Adam and Eve left the garden. Whether or not they pulled plows for farmers is unimportant in my book.
c-you have to believe that life is sacred when it’s in the womb, but that life is cheap if you’re a brown person in or out of america. – I personally believe that ALL life is sacred – in the womb, on the streets of New Orleans, or crossing the Rio Grande into America illegally. And I believe it’s a sad state of affairs when someone believes otherwise.
d-you have to be incapable of finding any country (including the u.s and a) on a map of the world. – I think he may be confusing the Miss South Carolina Pageant contestant with presidential candidates. But I’m not sure.
e-you have to believe that saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was responsible for 9-11(even if everyone in the bush administration has said that this isn’t the case). – I don’t believe Saddam was responsible for 9-11. I don’t believe he had weapons of mass destruction but I do recognize that he was a dictator who killed thousands of his own people. Whether or not that’s grounds for an invasion or not – I don’t know. I know that wasn’t what was presented to us and I know that if that’s why we went in, we better get our butts into Sudan as well. If we’re going to play world police like we said we would after World War II, we better be just as worried about the crimes in Africa as we are about the crimes in Iraq or Ireland.
f-you have to believe in strict ‘constitutionalism’ as long as it applies to the right to bear arms, but you have to use the constitution as toilet paper as it applies to having a free press or freedom of assembly or freedom of speech. – I believe in the constitution and firmly believe that I have just as much right to own a gun to defend myself, as you and I both have the right to say what we please. REGARDLESS of whether or not I agree with what you say.
g-you have to be pro-life, but pro-war and pro-death penalty. – I’m pro-life and agree that there are times when war may be necessary and death penalty may be necessary but I would avoid both at all costs.
h-you have to believe that homosexuality is a sin, even though jesus never talked about it. – Whether or not Jesus talked about it doesn’t determine if it’s a sin or not. There are many things that we don’t have record of Jesus talking about but that doesn’t mean the rest of Scripture is incorrect or invalid. Homosexuality is just as wrong as me being envious of my friends truck or house.
i-you have to believe that capitalism is a god given right, even though jesus said it was a sin. – I believe Jesus said greed was the issue, not the idea of making money. He told people to sell all their goods and give to the poor. How are we to care for the poor if we don’t make money ourselves? The “love of money” is the root of evil. Not money in and of itself. It’s about where you place your priorities. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind” is the greatest commandment, not loving money or wealth, or things. Anytime loving God is not first in your life, regardless of how much money you make, you’ve strayed down the wrong path.
j-you have to believe that ‘supporting the troops’ means keeping them in the middle of a pointless war, and that to actually support the troops and work to bring them home is un-patriotic and cowardly. – I don’t agree with the war, but I fear that pulling out now does more harm than good. We broke it – lets fix it. If someone can figure out a way to do that without our soldiers involved, I’m all ears. And I would never call someone un-patriotic who believed all our soldiers should be brought home today.
k-you have to believe that leaders like gw bush and dick cheney are patriots even though they never served in combat, but leaders like john kerry and max cleland are cowards even though they were both wounded in active duty while serving in vietnam. – I would believe that anyone who serves our country as a soldier or an elected official could be considered a patriot. A patriot is defined as one who loves and defends his or her country. I believe that can be done both on the battlefield and in the halls of Capital Hill.
l-you have to believe that that people who take illegal drugs are terrible criminals, but rush limbaugh is a patriot even though he was arrested for taking illegal drugs. – I would never say those who take illegal drugs are terrible criminals. I believe they are criminals but no worse than a CEO whose been scamming his company and stockholders and I would never call Limbaugh a patriot. I would say if anyone has been convicted of using or selling illegal drugs of any sort – they are a criminal under our current laws.
m-you have to believe that the ultimate expression of patriotism is subsidizing oil companies who mainly do business with states that sponsor terrorism. – I’m not at all a fan of government subsidies and hate that we are ourselves are indirectly supporting terrorism every time we go to the gas pump.
n-you have to believe that it’s better to throw an embryo into the garbage than to use it to further medical research that could help millions of people. – That’s my biggest argument for embryonic stem cell research. Granted, I’d rather see the embryos kept alive and a greater focus on adult stem cell research, but I’d rather see the embryos used for research than thrown away.
o-you have to believe that even though osama bin laden is a saudi and that the majority of the terrorists who attacked america on 9-11 are saudi’s, that the saudi’s are our friends and allies (cos, well, the saudi’s have long standing personal and business ties with the bush and cheney families, and bush and cheney couldn’t have ties with terrorists, could they?). – They could have ties but I’m no fan of conspiracy theories. Back it up with proof.
p-you have to believe that subsidizing tobacco companies is ok, but taxing tobacco companies to pay for a childrens health bill is wrong. – Again I don’t like government subsidies. I also have no problem with “sin-taxes” to pay for government programs but I always worry about how we’ll fund government programs anytime they’re related to a sin-tax. If the taxes keep increasing, eventually the people will kick their habits or find other (illegal) means of getting their fix. Eventually the funds will dry up.
Well that’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll get some interesting e-mails from several folks. Of course you’re more than welcome to stand by your comments and post them here, but I’ll still accept your e-mails regardless.
