I recently read an article on the Huffington Post that got me thinking about conservatism in general. The article, written by a pastor, makes a very good point that white, conservative Christians who claim they are voting for Donald Trump because he is pro-life, are actually not pro-life, but anti-abortion.
The author writes, “You see, it’s not that you’re really pro-life, you’re pro-straight, white, Christian fetuses.”
He continues, “The completion of that third trimester is actually the shelf life of your passionate regard for much of the living.”
I wholeheartedly agree with the author. The majority of people I know who are pro-life, openly reject gay people and say that they live in sin and deserve to go to hell. They criticize the Black Lives Matter movement and claim that Muslims are terrorists, among other things.
I grew up in a Christian household and I vividly remember the day I accepted gay marriage. It was during the 2008 presidential campaign when my friend and I were talking about who we would vote for if we weren’t 12 years old.
My friend told me, “I would vote for McCain because he doesn’t support gay marriage. God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
My sixth-grade brain paused for a moment. I grew up in a private, Christian school and was always taught that marriage was supposed to be between a man and a woman. But in my heart of hearts, I knew I didn’t care if someone married a man or woman. I told my friend, “I would vote for Obama. I don’t care who anyone decides to marry.”
I didn’t know then that I would become this left-wing, liberal, progressive, racism-fighting feminist, but here we are and here I am questioning conservative values once again.
Let me say that not all conservatives think like this just as all liberals don’t think like me. The majority of conservatives I have connected with, spoken to, or know in another setting have these beliefs. It doesn’t make sense to me and to other liberals I know.
According to studentnewsdaily.com, conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government and individual liberty. Liberals believe in egalitarianism and government intervention when necessary to “alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties.”
I’m already confused. If conservatives believe in individual liberty, then wouldn’t a woman’s right to choose fit that description? A woman has an individual liberty to make whatever decision she sees fit. If conservatives believe in limited government, why do they want a presidential candidate that will elect Supreme Court justices that will uphold pro-life ideals?
Conservatives only support those values when it fits their narrative. They believe in individual liberty when they want to own a gun! They fight for the second amendment so faithfully. But when an African-American exercises his right to carry, there is no outrage when he is discriminated against. They support freedom of religion, but God forbid a woman wear a hijab. They lose their minds! Why can conservatives exercise that right, but Muslims cannot?
Why are conservatives so mad at Colin Kaepernick? But when someone calls them out for yelling hateful slurs, they’re offended. What happened to freedom of speech and expression? Why do conservatives deny climate change exists after ample evidence has been provided by hundreds of scientists? Why do conservatives oppose welfare, but don’t support systems that will help people get off welfare to be able to make a living for themselves?
I don’t get it! It is baffling to me that an entire group of people can be so uneducated and have beliefs that are so one-sided and self-serving.
Have your beliefs, however skewed they may be, but I don’t believe it is right or fair to demand other people can’t have those rights. I am heterosexual; I will marry a man. One of my best friends is homosexual; she will marry a woman. I have no right to stop her from doing so, even if I didn’t support it. (Which I absolutely do!)
If you don’t like abortions, don’t get one. If you don’t like gay marriage, have a heterosexual marriage. It is not your right to decide how anyone lives their life, and to go as far as to want and support initiatives that would take those rights away from well-deserving Americans is asinine.
There is a general idea among conservatives that liberal progressivism is bad, which I completely don’t understand. Wouldn’t we want to progress as a nation and take steps to be accepting of everyone, not just the white, Christian, conservative elite?
If conservatives had any concept of sociology and how this nation was founded, they would have different beliefs. I don’t get how being liberal and progressive is a bad thing. I will continue to fight for the rights of ALL people, not just the ones at the top.