What Is A Political Conservative?

Most Republicans we see on television and talk with claim to be Conservatives. Wikipedia defines Conservatism as: Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, organic society, hierarchy, authority, and property rights. This tends to be the popular definition. The word “Conservative” means to conserve, to resist change.

A conservative friend on Twitter just gave me this definition of Conservative: The overall definition is one who believes that to contain the power of government, we must preserve personal responsibility and enforce ethical standards. It's the last part “contain the power of government” that seems to be at odds with the social aspect. It seems when it comes to social issues, Conservatives seem to want more government.

Social conservatives will be the first to call for sodomy and drug laws. They will not even discuss marijuana legalization, much less some hard drugs. As I discussed in, Mistake of Government Controlled Marriage, social conservatives don't want to remove marriage from government, while fighting against same-sex marriage.

When I did my political ideology chart, I placed conservatism to the right of moderate, and just left of the Republican Party. I decided to separate fiscal conservatism and social conservatism to see how they would appear on my chart. Fiscal conservatism moved to the right of the Republican Party and social conservatism moved far left next to communism.

I've used the Amish as an example of functional tyrannical-communist societies, and they are as socially conservative as you can find. I've often wondered if this is the world most conservatives would want if they still had modern conveniences. After some long conversations, I'd say yes. What really made me think about this is when a social conservative told me he was not on the political right, but was on the left. He preferred a tyrannical government, so society could be forced to a moral standard according to the bible.

The Amish and other similar communities are tyrannies. A few elders make the rules and if you fail to follow them, you are punished or tossed out of the community. If tossed from the community, you are never allowed to see your family and friends again. This is how it is in any tyranny—this is how it would be if the United States became a tyranny under the ideological left, no matter if that left is conservative or progressive. .

President Trump worked to have homosexuality legalized in Botswana. A lot of Conservatives thought that was a bad idea. I took that as to believe Conservatives accepted the imprisoning of homosexuals. Some Conservatives verified my perception that they think we should return to the past when gay people were imprisoned in insane asylums. They never speak to the true problem of why AIDS is so widespread in Africa; family burial practices. They have a custom where the family washes and preps the bodies for burial.

Social Conservatives believe homosexuality is one of the greatest sins a person can commit. I wrote in, The Sin of Conversion Therapy, about how social conservatives believe anything possible should be done to cure people of homosexuality. When the government is used to force people how to live, that's anything but small government.

I know all conservatives don't think alike. There are also people who label themselves Conservative because it's the socially excepted thing, or they just don't fully understand the term. I believe true Conservatives are the ones who believe it's acceptable for Botswana to imprison gay men because of an AIDS epidemic. A Conservative was shocked that I didn't understand the reasoning behind imprisoning gays in Botswana. It's for this reason we need to redefine conservatism and divide it between social and fiscal conservatives.

I agree with fiscal conservatives on many issues, but disagree with social conservatives on almost everything. I agree with social conservatives that progressives sometimes take things too far. If you stand for small government, you must stand for it no matter if it's the USA, or Botswana. If you believe in imprisoning homosexuals because you fear an AIDs epidemic, you aren't for limited government.

While writing this, I happened to see conservatives commenting on the video of 12 year old drag queen, Desmond. This child was called everything from a hedonist to a deviant. Some even said that people like me, who see nothing wrong with a 12 year old boy dressing in drag, should be hung. This child is having more fun than most children could only dream about. He might have already started an amazing career. Social conservatives would have this child removed from his parents. Some of the more extreme might have the parents jailed. You can be sure, social conservatives would have what this boy is doing made illegal. A fiscal conservative would be cheering Desmond on for being an entrepreneur at such a young age.

We must divide the term “Conservative” so we can better understand what people and politicians believe. When we vote for people who claim to be for less government, we must be sure they are for less government across the board, not just when it comes to business. We elected President Trump, who never claimed to be a Conservative, but he has reduced government more than any Conservative in history.

Social conservatives will say they just want a moral society. As I laid out in, The mistake of Government Controlled Morality, and What Is Normal, most people have a different definition of what is moral. Even among different denominations and religions, there is always the battle over what is moral.

Are there Conservatives who are both fiscal and social conservatives—of course there are. We must expose the myth that Conservatives are for less government. I have often said the only difference between Conservatives and progressives is the type of tyranny they would choose. Social conservatives believe they are the moral authority and the law should match their beliefs. Those of us who stand for freedom and the Constitution don't want any form of tyranny—we want people to live their lives as they please as long as they do no intentional harm to others.

Update 12/21/19:

The Hallmark channel ran an ad for a wedding registry website. The ad showed two women standing at the alter wearing wedding dresses. They say, “We do,” and kiss. The conservative group, Million Moms, came out in protest of the ad. The Hallmark Channel immediately responded and agreed to pull the commercial.

News of the commercial began to spread on social media and television. Hallmark wasn't praised by social conservatives for removing the ad, but attacked for ever doing the commercial. Soon after, LGBT groups contacted Hallmark and they quickly rescinded their decision and, once again, aired the commercial.

Social conservatives became even more outraged and accused Hallmark of surrendering to the mob. I've written before about how Angry Mobs Rule, which has become a problem in today's society. But in this case, was it LGBT who was the angry mob? I would say yes, but social conservatives also acted as an angry mob. It was social conservatives who originally got the ad pulled.

Why did social conservatives call the LGBT groups a mob, but didn't see themselves as a mob? It's simple, no group of people sees themselves as a mob, because they see themselves as doing what's best for society. Social conservatives believe any act of homosexuality is a sin, and is often referred to as debauchery, so they fight any public display of affection between same sex couples. They can't see gay couples as two people in love, they only see sex, and that's why they say their affections should be kept in the bedroom.

Because social conservatives see their actions as just, they will take any action, even pressuring a movie channel to stop playing a commercial. If you ask a social conservative what right do they have to rule by mob, they will hold up the bible. This isn't about the religion, but a small segment of Christians. There are progressive and some fiscal conservative Chrisitans who truly believe in the right to free speech and expression.

I'm not saying social conservatives don't have a right, or shouldn't speak their mind. All I'm saying is, practice what you preach. Don't complain about the opposition using mob rule when you're doing it yourself. Pressure from social conservatives and progressives are making it hard for businesses. It seems there is no winning. If a business does one thing, they anger one side, and if they do the opposite, they anger the other side.

There will always be disagreements about social issues. No minister should be forced to preside over a gay marriage. That also means social conservatives shouldn't stand in the way of same sex marriages. I have written about how to solve this issue in, Mistake of Government Controlled Marriage. To make this country the best it can be, we can't have social conservatives or progressives forcing their lifestyle on everyone else.

Another issue just came to mind that has social conservatives outraged. It seems, Netflix has made a movie/show that has a gay Jesus. I've not yet seen how Netflix will be attacked. I'm sure they will lose some customers. I only know, we live in a society based on free speech. Social conservatives and progressives work hard to limit free speech and expression, but some of us fight for all speech. It's the speech with which we disagree that is most in need of protection.

I understand there is a scene in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, where two women are kissing. It looks like everyday there will be some new outrage by social conservatives. Each day I am more sure than ever, I made the right decision by moving social conservatives to the far left on the political spectrum.