The Only “Conservative” Definition That Matters in America is Constitutional, Not Religious

So up until recently, I had the privilege of being able to say the only people who have ever called me Faggot have been self-described Liberals/Democrats. Well now I can only say I’ve never been called a Faggot by a Republican, the blanket statement Conservative is one I cannot apply anymore. So much for that record. Of course, there is a story behind this which ties into the subject. And if you’ve been reading my blog, you know by now I like to tell stories to embellish my point.

So back in August while perusing the odd stream of nonsense one can find on Twitter, I commented on a tweet ridiculing a group called GenZGOP, joining in with others ridiculing the group which claims to be the future of the Republican Party yet embraces left-wing ideology. Then something unexpected happened, I had a little moron leave a reply implying gays can’t be conservative. Well, I am never surprised by the stupidity you find on the internet, nor am I shocked or upset about it. Last time I checked, I voted twice for Donald Trump and I have been a registered Republican for a significant portion of my adult life, except those wild years where I was registered independent because I wanted to be all edgy. Well of course I told him what an idiot he was, and an argument ensued which he is actually still keeping alive even now. Keep in mind I am not totally innocent because I kept replying and stringing him along for the laughs, but at all times this argument was purely for my amusement anyway since I couldn’t take any of the idiots involved seriously. After all during this argument he and a bunch of other self-described conservatives who all turned out to not even be Republicans and hate Donald Trump began replying and calling me faggot and saying gays couldn’t be conservative.

Now stick with me because I am almost at the point here. One of the morons who jumped into the argument, and has long since quit since I lambasted him for being part of a church with a pedophile problem, was some Catholic from California, and he was by far the most delusional. He actually wanted to argue his god’s law superseded the laws of the US Constitution. I mean it is funny, I have to remind Liberals all the time that we live in a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy because the founding fathers feared the tyranny of Democracy, and here I am having the same conversation with a “Conservative” except I am having to explain to him the United States is not a Christian Theocracy because the founding fathers didn’t want a situation where the state also acted as the church. Then again, this isn’t the first time I have met a Catholic with a distorted view of reality, hell we have one in the White House.

This made me reflect though on the major problem the Conservative movement has, and especially the Republican Party. Many actual Conservatives are unable to disconnect their religious beliefs from their political beliefs, even to save their own party. Even at meetings of Republican groups, I am a part of, they always open the meetings with a Christian Prayer, even though I am there as well as other members who are Jewish or Muslim. Only recently have any of us been asked to lead the group in a prayer from our faith, although I would likely decline if asked directly because I am a bit sheepish about my prayer. For me, this is less of a problem and more of a minor discomfort. But for the Republican Party an image problem. People view the Republican Party as the party of Christians and Evangelicals when they should view us as the Conservative Party of the Constitution.

Honestly, being a conservative in America has NOTHING to do with religion and everything to do with the US Constitution. Prayer issue aside, I am proud to work with the Republican Party, and my religion has until now never been an issue. When we are working on political things we talk more about the constitution than anybody’s religion. In fact, if you removed religious consideration from the Republican Platform, it would remain largely unchanged. The only significant change if we stopped being the Christian party and instead put up the bigger tent of the US Constitution is that we might draw in more reluctant voters who have mistaken Christianity itself as being part of the platform.

What I wish Christian Conservatives would wake up and realize is that the left weaponizes their religion against us to turn away voters who would otherwise join us because they are turned away by the radicalism of the left. They use clever lines like “The Religious Right” to distract from their own extremism by implying we are religious extremists. And it doesn’t help our argument that we aren’t when our party platform in 2008 promoted Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the 2016 platform had language against gay marriage based on a religious and moral objection rather than objections to the violation of the 10th Amendment with the Obergefell decision. Honestly, we would have a much easier time attracting Gay Conservatives if the Republican Party and the greater conservative movement, in general, would stop deciding to fall on its sword with social stances that are not mentioned in the constitution or could even be contrary to it. One such example was DOMA, which before it was overturned, also violated the 10th Amendment like the Obergefell decision did in 2015. I mean do I have to say it? You can’t have it both ways with the Constitution, only Democrats believe that. And we can’t really consider ourselves better than them if we are driving people away with stances based on their same logic.

That said, some of the most “Controversial” issues we take up are based just as much on the US Constitution as they are on the Christian Faith, so it’s not like we would make any major changes to our platform if we stuck to just what the law covers. One good example is abortion. I had a conversation with a friend a few years back about how to fix the Republican Party, and he said we should just drop the abortion issue because it is a Christian issue. I had to correct him immediately. Abortion is wholly a constitutional issue, and in fact, it violates the constitutional guarantee to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. That’s the major reason I am against abortion, although to be completely honest my religion is also very much pro-life. But even if I were an Atheist I would still be pro-life because that’s what the law itself clearly states.

And that’s the way we need to frame our issues, not just Republicans but all Conservatives as well. Trust me, you will win more people over by championing free speech and civil rights without bringing up religion. Make no mistake though, I am not saying take religion out of the equation completely. After all, it too is a constitutionally protected right. And even though I find some sects of Christianity utterly disgusting and I hold nothing but contempt for those groups, I will be one of the first you see defending them if they have their rights stomped on by the government. It’s their right to believe in whatever god they want, just as it is my right to believe in the many Deities of my religion. Their dislike of my beliefs’ or my dislike of theirs doesn’t and shouldn’t play a factor in our responsibility as Conservatives to uphold and live by the United States Constitution, no matter who we are defending.

Let me just say it again, I am not saying remove religion from the Republican Party or the Conservative movement at large. These are great motivational factors for some and give them the inspiration to carry out great works. I am saying we should put more emphasis on Constitution we love and protect, particularly the line that says we shall not make policies “respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free practice thereof.” Because you don’t have to be a Christian, or white, or a man, or even straight to be a Conservative in America. In fact, you can be all of those things and still be a raging insane leftist. But in America, being a conservative means loving and living by the US Constitution, ALL of it (except prohibition, we overturned that) no matter how uncomfortable it becomes. And so it is with all due respect I would like to politely remind all of my fellow conservatives who love the constitution, who love freedom and liberty, but don’t seem to realize they are putting too much of their religion and other personal views into our political discourse……………