Is It Time? Should SoCons Vote Libertarian?
by Deborah Elmar
Clash Daily Guest Contributor
Social Conservatives, is it time to go Libertarian? I think it may be, politically.
Socially conservative politicians are not going to win enough elections across the country. We’ve lost the culture war because we just haven’t had the big guns – Hollywood, the music industry, the mainstream media, the courts, and academia from Kindergarten to Grad School – on our side for far too long. Somewhere along the way we conceded to the Left all those culture-shaping mechanisms.
I noticed this for the first time as a pre-teen, when I saw the original Footloose movie and realized that the loving, giving, decent, Christians I had been surrounded by all my life were being caricatured as nasty, uptight, angry people who wouldn’t let the youth have innocent fun. Young as I was, I recognized venomous Hollywood propaganda when I saw it and I had a sinking feeling that Christianity would have a tough time competing in the field of “cool.” Most of my Christian girlfriends loved the movie. Today my daughter’s girlfriends love Beyoncé and Miley, my son’s friends think that cruel Christians make homosexuals kill themselves, and everyone ignores or explains away the sexually abusive behavior of Hollywood’s elite. Ah, the power of “cool.”
The Leftists are in entrenched positions now and they want our children indoctrinated in their cult, our money to pay for the consequences of their choices, and our freedom of religion destroyed because it enrages them that somewhere, someone does not believe what they believe.
Perhaps Libertarianism can protect us from a Leftist hostile takeover of our children, our money and our conscience.
Libertarians are probably pro-homosexual marriage, but, to be consistent, must also be pro-freedom of religion. They would advise homosexuals, “Sure, go ahead and get married, but don’t force a Christian business-owner to bake you a wedding cake. Let’s all just leave each other alone.”
A Libertarian is most likely pro-abortion, but would at least, if consistent, not force others to pay for killing babies. In Canada, tax dollars – while so scarce for many vital health needs – are always available for abortions up to the moment of birth. I know it sounds cold to express satisfaction with merely defunding abortion rather than protecting the unborn, but I speak as a resigned Canadian whose countrymen lost the legal battle for life decades ago and whose government now forces all its citizens to sanction the blood-letting with tax-dollars. It is my conviction that abortion needs to be eliminated from the ground up, with individuals receiving enough support to personally decide to save the lives in their wombs. Let’s face it: the courts will never make abortion illegal again.
Libertarians would almost certainly want to make all drugs legal, but, if consistent, would not expect tax payers to foot the bill for a druggie’s lifestyle. In a number of Canada’s cities, the long-suffering tax-payer forks out the money for the needles, the injection sites and in some cases, the drugs themselves, not to mention the addict’s inevitably-needed treatment and care in medical facilities. But law-abiding Canadian diabetics have to buy their own needles. Funny how that works, eh?
The basic Libertarian creed of freedom in all things, provided your freedom does not hurt others, is preferable to the tyranny of the Left. If everyone lives their lives as they deem fit, but no one gets tax dollars to fund their choices or be rescued from the consequences of their choices, the obvious outcome will be that decent-living folk will soon outnumber the Leftists as members of the Left succumb to their laziness, psychological issues, substance abuse and STDs.
Of course we social conservatives would extend our charity to all who need it, as we do even now with our dollars, time and institutions that all outnumber the contributions of “compassionate” Leftists. But, even though they would receive voluntarily provided charity, Leftists would still miss the flow of government funds, wouldn’t like the consequences of their choices, and would perhaps make different decisions if the tax-dollar spigot was turned to the “off” position.
A Libertarian President might leave us alone. That’s preferable to living life under the thumb of the civilization-destroying cult of the Left. Think about it. Even a tyrant like Vlad Putin is smart enough to promote moral living, family life and religion in Russia, because he’s figured out what makes a country strong and successful. But Leftists will never admit that their ideology destroys societies, and they always want to force their beliefs on others while desperately craving tax dollars to support their choices.
As a future Libertarian administration pays attention to the country’s security needs and economic situation, we social conservatives could try to work on the culture again the way we are supposed to: from the ground up, not the top down. We could raise our children without Leftist indoctrination. We could continue to promote and support crisis-pregnancy centers and single-mom care and aid. We could continue to set up and staff soup kitchens, hospitals, care of the homeless and the elderly, etc. We could continue to open our doors and wallets to any members of the Left who, broken by their lifestyle choices, voluntarily come to our institutions for physical and spiritual aide. We could continue to spread the cure for all society’s ills: the Good News. We could continue to love our neighbor. And Libertarians would leave us free to do so. At least, they would if they wish to be consistent with Libertarianism.
Deborah Elmar is a Christian, wife and mother. She blogs at Collecting Quotes and occasionally posts at Return of Queens. She is a Canadian who lives with her family in America and loves both countries.
Image: Courtesy of: http://www.slobodaiprosperitet.tv/en/node/678
