Conservatives: We Know What They Are Against, but What Are They For?

"Conservatives always appear to be complaining about what they are against. I rarely hear them say what they are for!"

This was said to me recently. The reason it appears this way is because it is true. Since Conservatives are the defenders of Traditional Values, Objective Truth, Liberty, Freedom, Tradition, Custom, Virtues, Marriage, Free Market Capitalism, Religion, America and Life—this naturally casts them as those saying No! far more often than those for whom this same list represents what they want to deconstruct and destroy.

Conservatives are noted for American realism and American patriotism. I am a realist, meaning I don't put much stock in dreamy theories. I prefer to form my ideas based on how things are in this world; how things really work.

If you are a realist, you may well be a kindred spirit with Conservatives. They look at the results in the world. History is littered with the corpses of failed Utopias. A good idea is an idea that produces a good result. Many ideas that sound good in theory produce unintended deleterious consequences.

For instance, the first year the Pilgrims were in America (1620) they tried collectivism. Sounded like a great idea. And still does to an person who is not a realist.

The Pilgrims had a plan: they would all work together to plant and harvest, and at the end of the year they would take all the crops and divide them up equally among them. Well, unfortunately, a lot of them didn't work very hard. You see, they calculated that other people would do enough work to provide for all of them. They didn't. The colony would have starved to death had not the Indians given them food to make it through that first winter.

This experiment made a realist out of the leader of the colony. The very next year they established American realism. Each family got a plot of land and whatever they could grow on it was theirs to keep for themselves. That year so much food was harvested that they couldn't even store it all and gave it away to the Indians to keep it from spoiling. Conservatives hope this story needs no explication.

"If you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always count on the support of Paul." ~ George Bernard Shaw (Socialist)

Conservatives believe that marriage has served civilization well for thousands of years as the foundation of society. Every sociological study ever done has concluded that the best home for children to grow up in is a home with their father and mother. This objective truth teaches us that only this arrangement produces the most successful, healthy, law abiding citizens.

Therefore, the government has a stake promoting the arrangement that produces the best results. Married couples should have tax advantages for having more children because maintaining the birth rate in intact homes is necessary to keep America alive.

Marriage is not about romance or sexuality; it is about a man and woman that make a commitment to each other and to their children.

The removal of the Father from the family home and his replacement by the government has proved disastrous to our society.

The trampling of the rights of fathers by 'family courts' is a national tragedy.

This is why one rarely hears anymore what once was common: "When I grow up I want to be just like my Dad," boys would say and "I hope I marry someone like my Dad," girls would say. Hard to say if you don't know who your daddy is.

Traditional values are all about virtues.

Conservatives believe there is such a thing as Objective Truth.

Conservatives believe Americans have a right to own firearms to protect their families.

Conservatives believe that Free Market Capitalism—Free Enterprise—is the only mechanism that has advanced the standard of living of any people.

Conservatives believe that America's experiment with meritocracy has been a resounding success.

Conservatives believe that the Public Schools should teach children to be proud to be Americans and proud of the history of our nation. 

Conservatives believe Patriotism is good.

Conservatives believe we should be proud of our military men and women.

Conservatives believe that only living human beings should be allowed to vote—and only once each—and only in English. If people can't find the polling place, can't read the instructions, can't speak our language—they are probably not smart enough to understand policy.

Conservatives believe Society has a vested interest in virtues and propriety. Certain virtues such as honor, chastity, fidelity, and self-reliance should be promoted; and vicious, licentious, libertine behaviors discouraged.

Conservatives believe that private charity and faith-based charity is far more effective at helping the downtrodden than a cold, faceless bureaucracy.

Conservatives believe that private citizens should decide for themselves what charities, causes, and arts they want to support with their hard-earned wages—not a government central planning committee.

Conservatives believe that if the ACLU uses lawsuits as a form of economic intimidation and if they don't win the case, they should be forced to pay the legal fees of the defendants.

Conservatives believe in equal opportunity but that to try to engineer equal outcomes is ludicrous folly.

Conservatives believe that Invention and Innovation thrive with less regulation; and when inventors and innovators are rewarded for their efforts.

Conservatives believe that people should be responsible for their own lives including the consequences of their own behaviors, and not infantilized by being made into dependents of the government.

Conservatives believe that the Supreme Court should interpret what law means but under no circumstances create law—that is the job of the legislature under our Constitution.

Conservatives believe that bureaucracies need to be reduced in number, size, and authority.

Conservatives believe that Immigrants should only come to this country legally; it should be based on what they have to offer America; and the birthright of citizenship to children of illegal immigrants should be abolished.

Conservatives believe that Universities should be tolerant of student's views even if they are Conservative, or even if they are based on a Christian worldview, in the name of inclusiveness.

Conservatives believe that nuclear power should be ramped up as quickly as possible.

Our Bill of Rights guarantees Freedom of Religion not freedom from religion. The First Amendment only prohibits the United States Congress from expressly declaring by national law that all citizens must follow a specific religion—in particular a specific denomination of Christianity. The states were free to have a state religion within the confines of their state boundaries.

There is no separation of church and state in our Constitution and the term itself, as invented by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to a pastor, meant only that the state is to be prevented from interfering with religion not that religion is to be prevented from involvement with politics and social issues.

None of those three words are in the Bill of Rights - not church, not state, and not separation.

The rich spiritual and religious heritage of our nation should be affirmed. Political scientists have documented that the most frequently cited source in the political period known as The Founding Era was the Bible. Congress approved the Declaration of Independence with its four direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator.

"Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible." "It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors."

The above was spoken by the father of our country, George Washington (a realist who firmly believed in objective truth and virtues).

It was not only George Washington who said these sorts of things about how a religious, virtuous citizenry was essential to maintain a self-governing democratic republic. There are 1000 quotes by the Founding Fathers that reference Christianity in a similar fashion. This fact has been obscured by postmodern public school curriculums.

If any Radical Liberal living today is a better leader, more honorable, more virtuous, or a more intelligent person than President Washington, please stand up.

Life is precious and begins at conception. If someone willingly has sex they should accept the responsibility for the natural outcome of reproduction, which is inherent in the design of human sexual organs.

Conservatives are people who give twice as much of their income to charity than do Social Liberals.

Conservatives are twice as likely to declare themselves as happy according to recent polls compared to Social Liberals.

Conservatives are twice as likely to be optimistic about the future than are Social Liberals.

Conservatives attend church more than Social Liberals by a 9 to 1 ratio.

Conservatives display the American flag more often than Social Liberals by a 12 to 1 margin.

Conservatives believe in American realism; American patriotism; traditional values; objective truth; and time honored virtues.