Why I am a Conservative

     As a child I remember hearing all the political stories of my grandmother who was highly active within the Republican Party.  I knew where my grandmother stood on every issue and why and my grandmother taught me how to discuss politics in a positive way with others and not analyze others ideas and ideals.  Because of her I am and have been truly grounded to understand what it is I believe.  She was a conservative through and through.  She didn’t always agree with the Republican Party and how it was going especially when the Christian Right took over.  The reasoning was that the vision and views of the Christian Right are not in line with true conservatism.  The reasoning is this.  The Christian Right’s views tend to try and drive the agenda to federalize certain things such as the abortion rights issue and the like.  She didn’t like the desire of some to go and make a constitutional amendment.  My grandmother wasn’t one that took changes to the constitution lightly and she knew that when amendments were made the ramifications could be greater than planned.
     I would have to say that for the most part that I agreed with her and still do, but we do have our differences.  I am a Reagan Republican, having grown up in the Reagan era I truly liked his politics and where he led the party and my grandmother, though she also like Reagan felt that he was not conservative enough, which I can understand to some extent.  Ronald Reagan was a great leader for our country and knew how to communicate his vision well.  The media didn’t play well for him and often ridiculed him and mocked him.  He was called evil and a war-monger because he was direct in his words against communism and was uncompromising with terrorists – i.e. Mohammar Qadaffi and the Libyan standoff.  The media criticized, but he did not back down on things he felt were uncompromising positions.   Today we live in a divided country with one side so filled with hate and venom against our president that it colors all other issues.
     I, at one time with my grandmother, held a pro-choice stance for many years because I believe that issues such as abortion are meant to be handled at the local level, but my view has since changed because of the uncompromising spirit on the pro-abortion side.  There are two sides now where there were once many it has went from a pro-choice view that I believed which was education, to a pro-abortion side that wants to just have it be an issue that wants little to impede or educate on the options.  When states impose waiting periods to allow for thoughtful discussion on the topic the pro-abortion side steps in and tries to stop it and have it overturned in the Supreme Court.
     Many may look at my site and because I am a Christian assume that I am part of the Christian Right.  I would argue that you are mistaken.  I have been conservative longer than I have been Christian and, though some my views have been honed by my faith, I am not conservative because of my faith.  I believe in conservatism because I believe that it focuses on communities coming together to improve themselves.  True conservatism drives people to hold up their neighbors and to build up the communities in which they live.  As a conservative I believe that local cities and townships know better how to fulfill their needs and that power should be less the higher the level of government.  States take care of their constituencies and the Federal government is meant to protect interstate commerce, international commerce, and provide for the civil defense of the country.
     Now as a country I pray that we can come together first as American’s once again and begin to embrace our differences and instead of hate begin to converse as equals.  The Democratic Party has lost itself, it has lost its center, and I look forward to the days where political debate can be more civil and open.  I learn the most from those I disagree with because they make me better understand what it is that I truly believe.