Title: Conservative

[jhager]

hey everyone, I'm posting this in the "My name is" thread because it comes back to the question of who I am and how I identify,

I wanted to make a small point that is near and dear to me regarding the use of language in the forums and in our lives in general.

Something I learned very quickly on the Equality Ride is that every person has a unique and interesting way of self-identifying and that for many people that identification is very important to them because it is the one thing that no-one else can take away even when times are tough. It was a constant struggle on the ride to balance the need for political correctness, politeness, respect of others, and respect for our own personal beliefs and language patterns.

So, with that said, I would like to announce that I am a conservative. Now i know this may come as a shocking surprise to many of you who. numerous times I have heard in this forum that conservatives are evil, or unsupportive, or biggots, or ignorant etc etc. yet I stand before you today to tell you that is simply not the case and that we do a great injustice to our selves and our mission of love, respect, and equality for all when we make similar judgments of others that we criticize people like Dr. Dobson for doing.

A conservative by definition (from my political science book at the University of Wisconsin) is a person whose political beliefs are such that they are opposed to radical and rapid change in law regarding economic or social welfare of the state. Conservatives tend to come from a school of thought which values history and well defined traditions of law as something which should be considered in the legal decision making process.

Now I'm not here to tell you that I agree with this definition entirely or that there aren't problems with it, I'm also not here to tell you that i agree with all or even most other conservatives but I think most of us can agree, that the government should spend less money than it takes in, that the constitution, the original set of laws governing our nation should be a large part of our legal decision making process as opposed to individual people's personal views (Ie the President), I think that most of us can agree that careful consideration should be taken before making changes to the constitution and that radical and rapid change can sometimes lead to an inability to see the long-term effects of a law. (Ie marriage amendments) All of the values I just mentioned are by definition, conservative values.

Please don't get me wrong, I love all people, including liberals, and I support a lot of liberal values as well, such as helping those in need, but just because I am a human rights / LGBT rights activist does not mean I am a liberal, or a democrat or anything, it simply means, I support equal rights for all people including LGBTQ People. Please do not group together "Conservatives" as all being of the same school of thought. Most "conservatives" no longer identify as republicans, and most "republicans" are anything but conservative. Please don't judge me because I cant keep the most ignorant among us from also being the loudest.

We must always be careful of the language we use when talking about "others" because it is far easier to alienate our ally than it is to win over our adversary. The Log Cabin Republicans are a huge sponsor of the Equality Ride, and losing their support would a huge blow.

With Love and Peace to all

-Justin Hager
Member 2007 Soulforce Equality Ride
justin@equalityride.com
608-658-5336

[u-dog]

I thought you were going to say something really outrageous like you'd gone Ex-gay or something. Shoot boy, conservatives are as thick as fleas on a dawg on this forum (hey wait :eek: maybe I need a different metaphor)

Brentrichards and SEgaither come immediately to mind. Pablo is conservative in his theology but not his politics. Proga is a conservative and goes to one of the Colleges that you guys visited this Spring.

You just need to understand that "Conservative Rightwing Christian = ignorant bad guys" -- its a kind of shorthand. It doesn't necessarily include Republicans or Evangelicals or people who describe themselves as "inclusively orthodox" It mostly just includes people who believe that GLBT are subhuman sinners who are going to fry in hell.

[BrentRichards]

Hey Justin ... since my name has already been taken in vain here (not really...) Yeah, I'm with you all the way. Part of my struggle with coming out (which took me to age 36+) was understanding that to affirm this part of me meant to deny much the REST of me ... including my religious and political conservatism. Yeah, we're the minority in gay circles, but we're used to that feeling, right? Maybe we should form a support group. [grin]

Were you on the West bus? I don't recall meeting you when I met the gang at Messiah College ... but I do recall that one or two of the East Riders placed themselves more on the conservative side, either religiously, politically or both ... specifically Vince Cervantes and Joey Heath ... though that's only my sense of what they were saying, I can't speak for them.

As U-Dog says, there are a few of us rebels and heretics here, so chime in! We've got your back!

[tymejumper]

Hey Justin ... since my name has already been taken in vain here (not really...) Yeah, I'm with you all the way. Part of my struggle with coming out (which took me to age 36+) was understanding that to affirm this part of me meant to deny much the REST of me ... including my religious and political conservatism. Yeah, we're the minority in gay circles, but we're used to that feeling, right? Maybe we should form a support group. [grin]

Were you on the West bus? I don't recall meeting you when I met the gang at Messiah College ... but I do recall that one or two of the East Riders placed themselves more on the conservative side, either religiously, politically or both ... specifically Vince Cervantes and Joey Heath ... though that's only my sense of what they were saying, I can't speak for them.

As U-Dog says, there are a few of us rebels and heretics here, so chime in! We've got your back!

Hey, it's ok to be conservative. I personally am not, but I don't find fault in you becuase you like a slower change. The world takes all types. I am proud of all the people who did ride on the soulforce bus.

[Steven E. Webster]

Friends,

I'd like to think that in normal times liberals and conservatives are not all that far apart on most things. I think what we are experiencing in this nation at this time is an extreme polarization. There seems to be no room for moderation, for finding a middle ground between conservatives and liberals.

Also, I don't think there really is much of a true "left" in this country. Bill Clinton, in my book, was not all that liberal.

I consider myself a "liberal," but I really enjoy reading Andrew Sullivan. There is alot I like about him. I start disagreeing with him when he rejects certain liberal approaches to economic justice issues.

I'm for fiscal responsibility--something we've not seen too much of in either the Reagan or Bush II administrations.

I'm for a return to less polarization in politics and more real cooperation between liberals and conservatives.

Steven Webster

[Jennifer5]

Welcome Justin! Glad to see you around the forums!

... and you can relax with the conservative thing, I really don't think you need to worry about that here. I suppose there could be a few who may give you a hard time about it, but for the most part, so long as people know that you aren't anti-GLBT rights, we're all good. :love:

[Gennee]

Welcome to Soulforce, Justin. I understand your position. My theology is conservative but I am a registered Independent. I agree with some things with both Democrats and Republicans. I think too many elitists have taken control of the parties and the average American has been shut out of the process.

Gennee
:)

[pnggrad79]

I used to be conservative politically, but since I came out and Bush has routinely and systematically denied glbt people their rights, I am for anyone who will give us our rights, that are explicitly guaranteed by our Constitution, which they conveniently ignore on several points. I live in Texas and Rick Perry, our illustrious governor, has said on many occasions that gay people in this state need to go live somewhere else. I agree with him. This is a backwards, politically stale, and bigoted state, still stuck in Jim Crow times, and thinking we are still fighting the Civil War!!!!

I applaud Log Cabin Republicans. But with Bush denying 7 million children health care, and the denial of gay marriage to millions of gay people is simply unforgivable in my book and this man needs to go back to his ranch and raise cows, because apparently he is full of the crap he used to haul. :rolleyes: