I Am A Secular Conservative!

                How can that be?  How can someone be both secular and conservative?  Well, for me it is easy and natural.  Here’s why.

                But first let me tell a little story.  The other day I visited my prostate doctor for a routine checkup.  My PSA was up and we discussed a third biopsy which I wanted to avoid if possible, not so much because of the pain but the abject humiliation. 

                Now the doctor is a young fellow in his mid thirties and an avid fisherman, so after talking fishing for a few minutes we got serious and the conversation focused on cancer, of course, and inevitable death.  I told Matt, the Doc, I wanted to stick around long enough to see which Republican candidate gets the nomination and kicks Obama out of office.  Matt suddenly stiffened. 

                “Oh oh,” I thought, and asked Matt, “Are you a liberal?”  “Yep,” he said proudly.  “I’ll be damned,” I said jokingly, “I would never have guessed a nice guy like you would be a liberal.”

                I could tell by the body language that Matt was a dyed in the wool liberal and I didn’t want the conversation to get ugly because I’m a staunch conservative.  So I volunteered, “I’m a skeptic, an agnostic and a borderline atheist.”  Matt asked, “Do you believe in evolution.”  I responded, “Absolutely,” and showed him a book I was reading authored by Sam Harris, a respected scientist and atheist.  (I habitually carry a book with me to occupy my mind where I am apt to be waiting like at a doctor’s office.)

                A big smile splashed across Matt’s face and he said, “John, you are a liberal, why don’t you come on over to our side and join us?”

                The point I want to make is that there seems to be a preconceived notion that if you don’t believe in supernatural deities and don’t affiliate with a Christian church, you must be a liberal atheist.                  The other night on the O’Reilly Factor, Richard Dawkins, an outspoken atheist and the author of The Selfish Gene, was Bill’s guest.  Although Bill pretended to be open minded and plugged Dawkins’ new book, you could tell by his body language that he despised Dawkins’ atheistic views.  Bill harped on the proposition that (Christian) religion had proprietorship over morality, compassion and virtue.  Dawkins attempted to argue that religion did not have a monopoly on morality, that a non religious person can be just as ethical and virtuous as a religious person.  But O’Reilly didn’t seem to want to hear it and dominated the conversation which he is so good at. 

                Bill used Stalin, Moa, and Hitler as atheists who were evil men.  (There is compelling evidence that Adolph Hitler was a right wing, radical Christian.  Check out Wikipedia, which is just one of many sources.)  As I listened I hoped that Dawkins would point out that there was very little virtue or compassion during the forced Christian Reformations, the Inquisition and the Christian witch hunts that occurred in New England and Europe.  In my opinion evil (immoral behavior) is more evil when it is perpetrated under the flag of religion and allegedly condoned by God.  Furthermore, when slavery was instituted in Great Britain and the United States the Bible was used to justify it.  The Bible does not prohibit slavery, polygamy or pedophilia.  To be fair, there has been as much evil caused by believers as non believers.  (For example Catholic priests who molest children, Mormon fundamentalists who take pubescent girls as plural wives, Islamic fundamentalists who kill infidels) 

                Richard Dawkins is a scientist, a biologist, and has made some important contributions in the field of genetics and human behavior.  It was he who invented the word, “meme.”  The concept of “meme” has made an important contribution to understanding human behavior.  (See Mormon Polygamy, A Virus of the Mind, which can be read on this blog.)

                As far as I can tell Dawkins is well respected in the scientific community.  After all, it wasn’t God who invented the combustion engine, airplanes, computers, vaccines, etc. etc.  But because he is an outspoken atheist Dawkins has been demonized by the extreme Christian right.  It is ironic that right-wing Christians demonize non believing scientists who have helped make their lives richer and more meaningful.   Look at how Thomas Paine was treated by the righteous, loving, forgiving Christians?   

                The other night on the PBS documentary, Prohibition, it was pointed out that the age of sexual consent for females was at one time age 10.  Brigham Young influenced the Utah Territorial Legislature to make the minimum age a female could marry, age 12, for boys age 14.  How does Christian morality reconcile the Crusades, killing for alleged blasphemy, and Mormon blood atonement?  The doctrines are still there, they are just not practiced except by religious fanatics.  And I shouldn’t have to go into the evils (by Christian standards and free thinking ethical standards) resulting from Islam. 

                It is true that Christianity is much more moral than in the past.  However, if I don’t become a Catholic I will go to hell.  If I don’t become a Muslim I will go to hell.  If I don’t become a Mormon I will go to hell.  After researching those three religions, I would rather go to hell.

                So, I’m a heretic or whatever pious people want to call me but that doesn’t stop me from using my rational, material brain to know socialism is wrong for America and that Barak Obama and his Marxist and socialist cronies are ruining our capitalistic country.

                 I acknowledge that most Christian faiths now have decent, altruistic and egalitarian values.  I am the most familiar with Mormonism and have many of the same values as do members of the LDS Church, but I don’t believe Joseph Smith was a prophet or that there is such a thing as priesthood and infallible authority.  I see no conflict in that – and I suspect there are a lot of people who think as I do but because of political correctness do not share their thoughts.  We do not live in a black or white world even though radicals try to make it so. 

                At my age and independent status there is not much the religious fanatics and socialist fanatics can do to me for speaking out.  That is one of the great things about our Constitution – freedom of speech.  The far left wing liberals can burn our flag, “God damn America,” attempt to create anarchical chaos in order to destroy our way of life, attempt to promote class warfare and class envy, advocate big government and total regulation by government, take money from the worker, the job creator, and give it to the drones, and they are protected by the First Amendment. 

                I suspect that the recent revolution in Egypt was designed to replace one dictatorship with another, Islamic Sharia Law.  Compare the success of demonstrations against the establishment in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia with the demonstrations in the United States?  I also suspect that radical Muslims sit in silent delight watching the communists, socialists and anarchists tilt the Wall Street demonstrations towards violence. 

                So by gum, me and others can protest as well.   But in opposition to profanity, threats, chaos, slander and violence, the apparent tools of the far radical left and radical Muslims, our conservative tools are reason and steadfastness.   And thanks to the stupid demonstrations over Wall Street, according to the polls, there seems to be many more liberals and moderates coming over to the conservative side than the other way around.