I apologize for my long silence. If you don’t mind indulging me a bit, this will be a more personal post. Part of my silence has just been due to the business of being a single parent of three in the springtime. Secondly, though, I have been in a time of personal decision as to where I am going to stand as a conservative in these very troubling times.
We have all been encouraged by the empowerment we get when we know that there are many like us that are outraged at the big government, big spending, liberty stealing agenda of the current congress and the Obama administration. Now that we are past our first round of tea parties the real work begins. Many are working to organize this movement into a legitimate force for changing the disturbing current political policies. Within this movement, as with any, there is a debate about what will be our key issues and where to focus our energies. Two main struggles right now are 1) what issues are non-negotiable and 2) what party receive our power and passion.
As I have talked with leaders of the different groups who have sprung up in protest, often debated is the issue of social conservative issues. Many in leadership fear that if we do not stick with fiscal conservative issues alone, we will weaken our movement. They feel that issues such as being pro-life and opposing gay marriage should not be a part of our platform. The feeling is that we will lose if these and other issues based on Judaeo-Christian values are a part of the agenda. Their belief is that if we just restore our liberty, we will all be free to worship as we please.
I have taken time to be quiet for a while and listen to the debate, and pray. Now it is more clear to me than ever that we must not bow to that pressure. The truth is that if we just restore liberty without standing for biblical values, none of us will get the freedom we seek and deserve. Indeed we may be in a time when Christianity is truly not the predominant religion of the United States of American. It is hard to say and hard to believe that we have come to this point in just 20 years. I think we are at a point of proof right now. If we do not stand, if we bow to a more secular approach, we have persecution in store as Christians have never seen in this country. My personal efforts must be based on conservative biblical values.
This leads to the question of party allegiance. Where do execute our efforts, influence, prayers, and resources? Well the prayers should be directed to all, whether we agree with them or not. The rest is up for debate. Many advocate staying on a platform of less spending, less taxes, and less government, while abandoning social conservative issues. This is prevalent on Fox News, in the tea party rhetoric, and in the Republican party. This will only lead to weakening our position.
The rise of a third party is not all bad but if we stay away from social conservatism, we will not be distinguishable enough from the Republican party. It is true that our modern day Republicans have been almost as bad as democrats when it comes to big spending and big government. Still, most Americans perceive them and “the conservative party”. Many tea party folks feel that most have totally lost faith in the Republican party. Many never were in line with the party and are Libertarians or Independents. Understand that I have attended the tea parties and supported their efforts. What many fail to realize, though, is that without Reagan Republicans and Democrats, they will not have the strength to win.
People–not just the tea party folks but everyday conservatives–need a clear and distinguishable choice. Third party candidates without a fiscal and social conservative message may very well split the vote as John Anderson did in 1980 and Ross Perot did in 1992 and 1996. At this point in time I am more in favor of taking back the Republican party. When I say Vote Them Out In 2010 I am not just speaking of the Democrats. If a Republican is spending like a drunken sailor and is scared to stand for Judaeo-Christian values, let’s vote him or her out. If we do not clean house in the GOP and the tea party movement produces someone who is both a fiscal and social conservative, then they deserve our support.
This is the stand I must take. I think that there are many silent people out there who agree. I hope that to hear from you and that you will be empowered to speak up. The wounded Republican party has been weak. Are we going to save it or let it die and start a new party? Either will be okay if it is willing to stand for the whole conservative body. As they say on TV, “What say you?”, I would love to hear.