The definition of a conservative is going to be just as difficult to nail down as I imagine the definition of a liberal might be. As I said before, they are such transitory terms, their meaning can shift in a day or a year with equal facility. And I don't really know if there is any such thing as "the conservative square."
Today's self-identified conservatives likely come in two broad flavors: social and political. That's not absolute, but it will serve as a working model. Social conservatives are generally opposed to abortion, opposed to government interference in families, opposed to special rights for homosexuals (or anyone else for that matter), in favor of morality legislation, and usually somewhat nationalistic. Most social conservatives are also religious conservatives but not always. This is the major blunder committed by the left and their spokesmen, the mainstream media. The spectrum of beliefs that encompass the so-called "religious right" are held by a number of people who aren't even remotely religious and even some who are self-proclaimed atheists. For example, there are a number of conservatives opposed to the homosexual rights agenda who are not religious at all. They oppose the agenda because it is unhealthy for our society and antithetical to conservative and/or libertarian ideals. Their opposition has nothing to do with homosexuality itself, but more to do with granting special rights to any group of people. Then there are those of us who abhor homosexuality as deviant but oppose their political agenda purely on the grounds stated above. That is one good example of how complex and difficult it is to try to herd conservatives into some categorical hierarchy. Social conservatives tend to be less libertarian because they favor government regulation of so-called moral issues (e.g. pornography, broadcast media, etc.).
Political conservatives represent an even broader spectrum of beliefs. There are some who have no problem with Liddy Dole's third brakelight but cannot abide the depth of government regulation of business and the onerous tax burden under which we suffer. There are others who want to militarize our borders but who want to decriminalize drugs and end the war on them. Finding a pure political conservative who adheres across the board to any defined notion of conservative ideals is probably nigh impossible. The Terri Schiavo case is a good example. There are large numbers of conservatives (self-defined) who applaud the action of Congress on Sunday night and have no problem with government intervention in favor of a conservative principle (i.e. right to life). There are equally large numbers who abhor what is happening in Florida, but who are just as aghast at the ease in which the GOP joins the Democrats in urinating all over the Constitution for political gain.
As I said before, I am mostly libertarian, but a better description would be that I am a hard-line Constitutional constructionist. I believe the US Constitution, with the addition of the Bill of Rights and the thirteenth and nineteenth amendments, is a nearly perfect document and should be followed as originally intended. I believe the fourteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth amendments are destructive and should be repealed. I believe Congress should be strictly limited to the powers enumerated in Article 1, Section 8. I believe that our rights are granted by our creator and protected by the Constitution. I believe that abortion and euthanasia are murder and, therefore, violations of our God-given right to life as protected by the Constitution. I believe that government induced redistributionism is antithetical to humanity and to Americanism, and that it is forbidden by our Constitution and must be stopped. I believe the government has no right to direct my private life at the point of a gun when the course of that life does not brook the rights of any other human being. I believe it is a proper function of government to protect us from one another but not from ourselves. And finally, I believe in John Galt's oath: "I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." From that I think you can probably guess that I do not ever find myself adopting un-conservative principles for expediency's sake. Of course that should be obvious given the outcome of the 2000 Stokes County Commissioner's race. Furthermore, I find myself at ideological odds with the GOP on an ever increasing basis. I strongly doubt I will be a registered Republican by the end of this year. As I tell my other Democrat associates, I am a conservative before I am a Republican.
I, unlike our mutual acquaintance, Mr. Holloway, do not doubt the sincerity of your position on abortion, Robert. However, a pro-life stance does not a conservative make. Granted, it is an important fundamental position. I will go as far as saying anyone who is not anti-abortion could not reasonably call themselves conservative. I happen to know that you favor a number of government activities that can easily be placed in the domain of redistributionism. That alone disqualifies you as a
bona fide conservative.
Feel free to use any and all of this. The law of unintended consequences is in effect here. Who knows? You may even spawn a fledgling conservative.
