Recently I received an email inviting me to join a Yahoo Group called Moral_Conservatives. It seemed like it might be of interest, so I went ahead and joined. I was invited by the group owner who goes by the name of Cowboy.
Here is the description of the group:
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Moral Conservatism is a discussion/activist group that places an emphasis on defending our Judeo-Christian values (including, but not limited to: sanctity of life, sanctity of marriage, anti-ACLU) against secular "progressive" forces.
Prospective members of all faiths are welcome here. And we welcome all conservatives, but the focus here is on social issues.
Also from the initial email I received:
Our group is primarily Republican, but 100% conservative. That doesn't mean that we're part of the kool aid drinking crowd. We put principle above personality and encourage debate. If you're a CONSERVATIVE who thinks for yourself, we'd be happy to have you as a member of our group.
So I joined and started to browse this group. Since I am an avid Ron Paul supporter, I decided to see what people on this group thought about my candidate.
One of the first posts that I found was by Cowboy, the group owner. He was talking about Wayne Allyn Root when some of his thoughts about Ron Paul slipped out. Talking about the Iraq war cowboy said "at least he's not a nutjob on that issue like Ron Paul is."
So right off the bat I am feeling not quite as welcome since the moderator thinks my candidate is a nut job.
Later in the post Cowboy, had this to say:
See, I have a philosophical difference with Libertarians. I support an aggressive foreign policy. I am ok with the Patriot Act. And I certainly don't think it's ok to kill the pre-born just because the state authorizes it and not the federal government. And marriage has been defined for tens of thousands of years as a sacred union between one man and one woman. It's the basic building block of our society. What business does any state government have in redefining it?
I have two thoughts for Cowboy. One, if you support such an "aggressive foreign policy", why do you have a so called conservative group. You should start the "Pro-War Imperialist for America" group. I think that if we are going to have an imperialist foreign policy that we should just start colonizing. I mean it would not be that big of a step. We already have military bases in many countries, we elect their leaders for them, the only thing we need to do is to tax them for this service.
Point two, why are you allowing government to define marriage? Until the Ministry of Truth takes over, the government can call marriage whatever it wants to, this will not change what marriage is. Marriage is a private institution between a man, a woman and God. There is no room for the role of the state in marriage. The state is trying to play the role of God with marriage. This is why people obtain a marriage license. A license is permission to do something that is otherwise not legal. So by applying for a marriage license you are asking the permission of the state to do something that would not be legal otherwise.
The description of the yahoo group starts out with "God Bless America".
How do you think God feels about people asking permission of the state to get married, when he is the One who ordained marriage?
David Boaz from the Cato Institute has a good article about privatizing marriage which can be found here. He talks about the role that the government has played in marriage over the years and also a little background on why it came about.
I have a feeling that I will not be a member of this group for long. I think that I have diametrically opposed fundamental beliefs that may make my participation unwelcome.
If anyone thinks that they would fit well in this group they can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Moral_Conservatism/.
