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Not to piss off my conservative friends….

November 8, 2011 by 10 Comments

I have somewhat refrained from posting political rants on this blog for a little while now, but there has been a lot going on in the political world and I gotta get some stuff off my chest.

Most of you know where I stand with my beliefs. I tend to be very conservative on most things, sometimes moderate with others. I respect other people’s opinions and beliefs and I can only wish for the same in return. Obviously we don’t always get what we wish for.

Unfortunately I’m going to have to go “Hannibal” on some of my fellow conservatives and “eat my own” for a post. I’m sure as a result, the hate-mail folder will probably get a few extra hits this time around.

I have come to a crossroads with my beliefs and I find myself having to choose between values that I stand for. I have realized that many of my beliefs contradict each other, and I feel that it is a direct result from the problems that the 2-party system has created. I hate having to choose sides because frankly, I don’t believe in everything either party stands for. Yes, I consider my beliefs to be conservative, but that doesn’t mean I think the Republicans are always right.

A wise man once told me that the constitution protects not only the rights that I like, but it also protects your rights that I don’t. For the most part, I have accepted that. I may firmly believe in my right to keep and bear arms, but I would never support forcing people to own and carry firearms. I certainly disagree with just about everything that comes out of Michael Moore’s mouth, but I would stand side-by-side with him to defend his right to free speech.

So why haven’t I done the same with things like gay marriage and abortion?

I asked myself this recently and I had a really hard time answering it. The truth is, neither issue really affects me. I’m not homosexual and I wouldn’t consider having an abortion (not that it’s physically possible, but you get the point). If the federal government decided to allow gay marriage nation-wide, it really wouldn’t affect me. Nobody is forcing me to marry another man and nobody is demanding that my wife and I have an abortion next time she gets pregnant.

So I guess where I am going with this, is that I have had to figure out what’s important to me. We can’t sit here and say that we don’t want our rights taken away, but then turn around and hack away at the rights of the people we don’t agree with. Yes, I still believe that abortion is wrong, but I still have the choice not to get one. The same goes for drinking and driving. I think it’s wrong to get plowed and then get behind the wheel of a car, but I’m not about to rally to outlaw bars or alcohol.

My political beliefs are actually quite simple. I don’t want government telling me that I have to or can’t do anything. As long as it doesn’t affect anyone else, let me make the decision on what’s right or wrong.

Where the Republican Party has gone wrong is they seem to spend all their time addressing the issues that don’t really affect anyone. What DOES matter are things like the economy, taxes, war, and defending our god-given rights…..all of them. The beauty of this country is that we don’t have to follow a single belief system. We are still free to practice the religion of our choice. We can work any job we want, live anywhere we want, talk anyway we want, and most importantly, we still have the right and the means to protect it all.

What we need to do, is worry about the issues that really matter right now so that we still have the ability to debate over the little things that we don’t agree with.

Filed Under: Featured, Opinion, Politics
About Sean Eddy

I'm a paramedic in North Texas. I have been working in EMS for over 10 years now. I enjoy the outdoors, music, shooting, computers and fitness. I currently run DroidMedic.com, and MedicMadness.com . You can e-mail me at sean@medicmadness.com.

  • Bigdognhb

    You said exactly how I think. I am extremely conservative in my thinking. I have also started to think of myself as conservative rather than Republican. Lets face it. Neither party has done anything to really help the American people. I actually got in the gay marriage debate the other day. Republicans yell louder than anyone about personal freedom and limited government. But on this issue will tell people what they can and can’t do. A little hypocritical? And just like you pointed out. With all the problems this country has right now, why are any of these things even in the forefront of discussion by our politicians?

  • Bondsman

    sorry the right to be gay or have an abortion is not guaranteed in the Constitution. Such being the case the government should remain silent on both issues. The problem is that the gays and women’s libbers made it an issue and now expect the government to acknowledge and pay for the issues with other peoples money.

    • http://www.medicmadness.com Sean Eddy

      I agree with you that it’s not protected in the constitution, but I still don’t think it’s a big enough issue for us to be fighting over right now. There are a lot of things that we enjoy that aren’t protected in the constitution, like driving. I would rather allow people to do things that are against my moral values – so long as it isn’t forced uppon me – than set the tone for more rights / priveledges to be taken away.

  • Ckemtp

    Honestly, you’re not going to tick off many conservatives or Republicans with this. The majority of people that I speak to would largely agree with you for the most part. I’m fairly conservative but have no real issue with “Gay Marriage (for lack of a better term)” other than the fact that it’s an issue being forced in the media more than rationally debated. Iowa quietly allowed it and there have been no problems. When something like that isn’t made into an In Your Face Big Political Issue, it tends to pass by attracting little ire.

    A good many conservatives consider what is portrayed in most media sources as political theatre. I simply have found most issues presented by the 24-hr news cycle are fluff. The meat of what affects the country is not being trumpeted as those kinds of things aren’t sensational enough to draw eyes. Think… have you ever heard daily of a doctor being on trial for a propofol overdose before MJ died? It’s the same thing that happens with the issue of “Gay Marriage (for lack of a better term)” and say… environmental regulations concerning stormwater discharge and parking structures in watershed zones. One of those issues directly affects the economy of the nation in terms of economic activity to water quality, the other… um… draws protests?

    There’s a country song I like. I think the title follows the chorus, but the salient point of the song is “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything”. I like that a lot. We are presented with too many issues that we’re asked to make decisions on. We humans cannot possibly research, evaluate, filter, and process enough information to make a truly rational decision on everything that we’re expected to be making decisions on. Therefore, we pass the information presented through our core beliefs and see if the issue passes a preliminary test. I work on strengthening and evaluating my core values to better process decisions on extra issues. It seems to work for me.

  • Michaelp

    I went through this same issue. The process started with the conservative/religious response to 9/11. It is actually what prompted me to change careers.

  • Bridget

    Your stance on the issues make a lot of sense, and I will bet many will agree with you. I think most people – liberals and conservatives – are more moderate than media prefers to portray. I will politely disagree with you when you say these issues don’t really affect you. True, they may impact you directly as a heterosexual male, but they do affect people. As a health professional, i have seen first hand the ramifications of a person’s same sex partner not having any legal protection to participate in his or her care. So these issues do make a difference in the lives of real people.

  • Lubbockgaymale

    OK, if the Neo-cons will stop telling me how to live my life, I’ll stop throwing my ‘gay lifestyle’ in their faces!  I’ve always been a ‘live and let live’ kinda guy, but sometimes you gotta step up to the plate and make your views heard…. I got into a lotta hot water when I railed against GWB and our wars, but that pales to what I get when I argue I should be allowed to marry my partner!

    • Too Old To Work

      Now, if you only knew what a “Neo Con” is, where the term came from, and how it’s used, you might have a valid point. Only like most liberals, you use it as a slur.

      • Steve Cowan

        OK, to me a ‘Neo Con’ is anyone who has broken up his/her marriage, no matter how, but then wants to tell me I cannot profess my love for my partner in a public, legally recognized ceremony.  Or, if you prefer, a neo-con fights gay marriage to protect the sanctity of marriage, but has no opinion on outlawing divorce!

  • Too Old To Work

    Sadly, it seems that it’s the liberals that want to keep these issues alive. At least for the most part. Most people I know don’t care at all about gay marriage and most don’t care about abortion either. However, the first thing a Democrat candidate for most offices does seems to be bring up these topics and demand to know what his opponent thinks about them.

    I don’t like the idea of abortion, but there are a lot of ideas I don’t like. That’s how I feel, others feel differently and that’s their right. I don’t care what others do about that. Same with gay marriage. Ironically, the idea of gay rights seems to offend a lot of African Americans. For some reason, equating the ‘struggle” of gay people to marry each other with systemic discrimination offends those voters and alienates towards gays.