Conservatism: Once Not a Bad Thing

The Associate Press the other day reported how longshot Republican presidential candidates Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee were well received in Florida by a socially conservative group who applauded their anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage and pro-faith messages Saturday night.

Of course, there were your usual quotes, like "You need to redefine the definition of marriage as a union of a man and a woman. It's critical," from Brownback, a Kansas senator. However, what really surprised me was this one, which wasn't from either of the GOP presidential candidates, but from an attendee at the event: "The top tier, in my estimation, does not fit the definition of what a true conservative has historically been in this country," said Roy Tanner, 50, of Orlando. "If it is meant to be, these guys will break out of the pack. I'd be happy if either got elected."

A few weeks ago, I made an entry that may have alienated a few of our gay GOP readers called Gay Republicans: Wasting Time. You see, Mr. Tanner's quote above bothers me to the point that it would now lead me to explain why I wrote that entry, and by doing so, out myself as having once been a Republican.

Mr. Tanner says that the leading GOP presidential contenders do "not fit the definition of what a true conservative has historically been in this country." Well, Mr. Tanner's historical revisionism goes hand in hand with ideas like marriage having been a sacred institution for over 2000 years (historically it's been nothing more than the selling of girls to other families).

Mr. Tanner is wrong! Historically, conservatism in this country meant smaller government, less infringement on state and individual rights, and a tight fiscal policy. For generations leading up to the late 70's, that's what it was, until the likes of Jerry Farwell, Ronald Reagan, and a host of others came onto the scene, indoctrinating conservatism with a very subjective Christian morality, so that today, the idea of conservatism means doing what the Bible says. It's not too different from the Islamic fundamentalists you see in Iran, and this country has similarly been approaching what could be called a theocracy.

Being a conservative is not a bad thing, as long as if it's that old-time conservatism of good governance, keeping track of the country's purse strings, and staying out of people's business. However, that is no longer what it means to be conservative, where a strict code of morality, as interpreted solely by the religious right, is enforced and followed, and why, as a young man in the late 80's, I turned from it, and walked away.