Re: Being a Conservative

I, for one, found this to be a very informative thread, and I'm glad you started it! Just had to add that!

Re: Being a Conservative

Re: Being a Conservative

Re: Being a Conservative

Politics confuse me.
I am SOO lost sometimes about who stands for what on what issue, what's left, what's right, what's liberal, what's conservative, who's an elephant and who's a monkey (kidding on that one).
Cnn says one thing, Fox says another

I feel like I am 5 and I just went to my back lawn and tried to twist in as many circles as I could before I fell down.

Re: Being a Conservative

I will be honest in saying this--I am a registered Democrat, and probably one of those people guilty of lumping Conservatives, Religious Rights and Republicans into the same category...

...why? Mostly because there are many overlapping tenets, and one seems to run right into the other.

That, and the fact that I've never actually come across anything the GOP stands for that I support.

I will say that I feel many liberals such as myself (younger ones in particular) tend to interchange the three because many things DO seem that black and white.

Re: Being a Conservative

But, they'd rather stab their eyes out with a dull #2 pencil than admit to agreeing with an, essentially, conservative idea

I get this everyday. Especially with my Liberal friends who don't bother to research policies, and just call themselves Liberal because they don't want the Conservative lable. What makes me laugh is when they say they are anti government, and go on and on about the Federal government and how taxes are wrong .

Re: Being a Conservative

I'm responding to this post not to rip the poster apart, but b/c I think it was a very honest, open post. I think a LOT of people tend to feel this way, and I'm hoping that at least a few people will start to acknowledge that GOP does NOT equal Religious Right.

MrsRivera -- this really isn't against you or directed at your personally. It's just that you said some things that I think a LOT of other liberals also think, and I'm responding to that sentiment.

That, and the fact that I've never actually come across anything the GOP stands for that I support.

Re: Being a Conservative

Re: Being a Conservative

~Kara


I got the BIGGEST smile on my face when I read this! I am so happy I started this thread I can't even tell you.


Oh and as for when people tell me Conservatives don't like change, this is how I define it for some people that seems to make sense.
- Radical change and unproven beliefs should not be quickly implemented before tested

Re: Being a Conservative

Re: Being a Conservative

Re: Being a Conservative

Why do you think this. I was a HS SS teacher for a long time and would love to hear your theory

I actually have a great benefit because I spent 2 years going to high school on Long Island then a year and a half in Washington state, which is very Liberal and has I think it is the Second worst educational system in the country. It was astounding how far ahead I was academically.

The seniors were reading books I had to read in 8th and 9th grade. I used to write their essays for cigarettes None of them were taught anything about the Constitution. My younger sister, who goes to a completely different school then I did in Washington (suppose to be one of the best ) has never gone in depth about the Constitution. Which I would think is a bit more important then 4 years of Washington state history.

I can say from my personal experience in my education in New York, that when I was taught subjects like the New Deal program, there was much left out, that I learned later on in my independent studies.

So part of my statement comes from personal experience. The rest is based on other factors like the federal government being active in public schools, and pushing their academic agenda that I feel is biased. The fact that we are expecting schools to focus on the making school fun and supporting mediocrity , and more, are causing, what I feel is the deterioration of the public education system. If you would like me to go more into that part I would be happy to, I just don't want to bombard you with too much of my views, as this post is already long

Re: Being a Conservative

I hear what you are saying about the levels of different states. My niece came here to go to school from Arizona and was floored by how little she was taught in AZ.

As for your NY experience, it seems you left NY before 11-12th grade - which is where US history is taught.

Re: Being a Conservative

U.S History was taught in my school, or at least when I went which was a while ago , throughout middle school and both 9th and 10th grade. We went over quite a bit. And even when I talk to all my friends about the Constitution (obviously something I am passionate about) they have NO idea what they are talking about. And when we discuss the New Deal, the repeat the same thing I was taught before I left. I pick on the New Deal, only because i feel it is very misrepresented.

There are a lot of wonderful, exceptional teachers out there. I have so much respect for teachers, as I could never do what you do in a million years. I really can not applaud them and you enough.

I feel teachers are stuck in a situation where many of them our forced to teach a set curriculum, and have to be very PC, where much of history is not politically correct. And there is an extreme lack of discipline, and self responsibility in our youth today that our government and population contribute to. I can imagine from what my friends and family whom are teachers tell me, a very difficult uphill battle.

Re: Being a Conservative

Re: Being a Conservative

Re: Being a Conservative

Posted by Kara

I'm responding to this post not to rip the poster apart, but b/c I think it was a very honest, open post. I think a LOT of people tend to feel this way, and I'm hoping that at least a few people will start to acknowledge that GOP does NOT equal Religious Right.

MrsRivera -- this really isn't against you or directed at your personally. It's just that you said some things that I think a LOT of other liberals also think, and I'm responding to that sentiment.

Posted by MrsRivera

I will be honest in saying this--I am a registered Democrat, and probably one of those people guilty of lumping Conservatives, Religious Rights and Republicans into the same category...

...why? Mostly because there are many overlapping tenets, and one seems to run right into the other.

Honestly, if you really feel this way, then you haven't really done much research on the subject. I'm not trying to be flip, but just the idea that you think that the tenants of the Religious Right and what the GOP stands for "run right into each other" and overlap so much as to to be almost the same thing shows me that you don't necessarily have a clear understanding of the history and defining characteristics of the Republican party. I don't think churches teach much about federalism either, but I could be wrong. I'm not exactly evangelical here, though have nothing agianst anyone who is.

That, and the fact that I've never actually come across anything the GOP stands for that I support.

Really? Nothing? Like the 10th Amendment? Federalism? Have you looked much beyond abortion, gay marriage, and the war? I'm a card carrying conservative and there are plenty of things I agree with Democrats about and disagree with many Republicans about. People hear that I don't believe the federal government should have the power to ban abortion, that I'm staunchly against the death penalty, and that I support gay marriage and then ask me, "How can you possibly be a Republican then??" Um, easy. There's a LOT more to it than just those issues.

I honestly think that the vast majority of people who feel THIS strongly against the GOP are basing 99% of their opinion on a very small population of Republican politicians (mainly, unfortunately George W. Bush) and a very small group of issues.

I think I'd get slammed for grouping all liberals into such a narrow category (and I don't, by the way... I actually acknowledge that people can align themselves with a political party and still remain free thinkers), so I'm always surprised as how often this happens to conservatives. This is not direct at the post I quoted AT ALL, but I feel the need to say it because it's something that irks me: I, personally, as a conservative, am tired of hearing non-conservatives tell me what I believe. I can think for myself, thank you.

I will say that I feel many liberals such as myself (younger ones in particular) tend to interchange the three because many things DO seem that black and white.

Well, if you don't want to dig deeper, of COURSE things will seem that black and white. The GOP isn't defined only by the last 8 years no more than the Democrats are characterized solely by Bill Clinton.

What so many people fail to realize is that the Republican party isn't as flat as people seem to think it is. There are easily two groups falling under the GOP - yes, the Religious Right "Pat Robertson Republicans" as John McCain has called them is one sect. However, the vast majority of us don't fall under that sect. I thought John McCain did an excellent job in 2000 trying to distance himself from that sect when challenging George Bush. A lot of his words and speeches at that time have turned eerily prophetic... *shudder* (I'm a big separation of church and state person...) I think the GOP was somewhat reactionary in 2000 trying to be the family values party - and I admit I disagreed with that vehemently at the time. Unfortunately, that then became the defining characteristic (at leat to most non-conservatives) of the party for the past 8 years. Hopefully that will start to change.

The fact that the Religious Right has shoved themselves into the lime light and rallied behind the Republicans doesn't change the fact that GOP appeals to people outside that narrowly defined group -- and has a history FAR broader than just the Religious Right.

I find it incredibly closed minded (not to mention ironic) to hear liberals call the GOP closed minded, when they won't even entertain any explanation or argument on anything a conservative might actually say or think. They jsut think we're all a bunch of Religious Right Pat Robertson drones screaming "Jesus wants the government run this way!" when in fact, that's simply not true. They don't acknowledge that we can be just as intelligent and well-informed as they are and still disagree. I don't doubt there are conservatives who give the same closed-minded attitude toward more liberal stances. I just think that so many people like to think "conservative = closed-minded" and "liberal = open-minded" when, in fact, they're just misuing the words...

I think I've come to the conclusion that many Democrats, in particular the younger ones whose political exposure to Republicans has mainly been Dubyah, just don't want to believe that the GOP isn't the same thing as the Religious Right and that there are Republicans out there who are NOT members of the Religious Right. They just turn a blind eye and don't even want to listen when any conservative speaks. That's their right, but it doesn't mean their interpretation of the GOP is accurate.

Re: Being a Conservative

Posted by hope2bamom

~Kara


I got the BIGGEST smile on my face when I read this! I am so happy I started this thread I can't even tell you.