I am what most people call a generic Republican. I apparently fell for the:
Limited Government,
Individual Freedoms,
Personal Responsibilities,
and a Balanced Budget crap!
My entire political life was based around locating candidates who would run on these issues and then if they claimed to be a fiscal conservative, I would jump in and help with fund raising and write letters to others for the candidates and my lack of faith in any God never entered the discussions.
When I moved to Arizona in 2000, my first action, after unpacking my books, was to locate a Republican group in the Phoenix area. What I found scared me! The above agenda, which was formed under Senator Barry Goldwater, was trashed and the massive movement for Christian principles had taken over the Arizona Republican Group. I began to question this change of agenda and was told I had to be a Christian to be part of this State Party.
I had already backed away from the GOP in 1992 when I saw that the neoconservatives had taken over the Bush 41 cabinet and a new focus for America was introduced. This One World Order design was nothing but a Socialist movement to bring all Americans under one form of government and then head to the Middle East to help them out (promising oil to the USA). This did not sit well with fiscal conservatives and Bush 41 was not reelected. The GOP had 8 years to touch base with the limited government agenda but instead turned over the party to the Christian Coalition.
I will never forget the candidates running in the Primary with their list of sins that they would prohibit through an Amendment to the Constitution. An Amendment to prohibit actions by all Americans was a serious threat to all Americans as it would give the federal government authority over our private and personal lives. I did not think this was necessary as we already had firm state laws to protect actions against other's lives.
This was nothing but a call for a Police State within the Federal Government that would keep tract of all Americans' actions. This was a plan designed and promoted by our Christian Leaders who set their memberships to vote for Gov. Bush of Texas as he promised prohibitions against abortions, gay marriages, Embryonic Stem Cell Research and if they could pull that off we could see an end of prostitution, gambling and pornography, all under Federal laws. This was a modern day inquisition and the new voters lapped it up.
Christians have a problem monitoring themselves and need desperately a big daddy to direct them through their lives. Apparently they have no moral code by which to make their choices so the government was called in to do it for them.
The plan was to rewrite the 10 Amendments to include the 10 Commandments and they were depending on Bush to fulfill their demands…. Not acceptable in my world of politics. I see more Republicans bailing out of their party because they want to maintain a separation of church and state and wanted the Churches to vote for an agenda of freedom on Christian rule. This did not stop with the White House and the religious right went for the Congress to back up Bush's pro-life Justices. They handed Bush the whole deck of cards to allow him to shuffle or deal America anyway he wanted.
These members of the religious right set the rules for nominating our House and Senate candidates and we ended up with a terrible group of religious men and women who could not handle the social issues that had suddenly appeared in their chambers and their courts. Most of the hysteria came from Clinton's playing around in the Oval Office and the Republicans decided they wanted a man who would never bop anyone in the White House. They made no noises when Bush began to discuss taking Saddam down. They made no noises when 9/11 took out our Twin Towers and a portion of the Pentagon. They simply gathered around and prayed. We handed Bush the laziest, sloppiest and most corrupt group of men and women possible, to try and handle social issues when they could not even look at a possible war with terrorists.
I could not vote for the religious right in Congress as I saw little intelligence coming from any of them. I could not vote for Bush as he offered nothing but excuses for what he was supposed to be doing. I have never voted Democrat as they stand for nothing but Socialism. Where the hell am I supposed to go in these elections?
I was banned from many Conservative internet sites as I was firm in my desire to keep individual freedoms as a number one issue within our government. I was told that I had to be a dirty liberal for focusing on these choices. No "decent" Christian would ever work against what the religious right had worked so hard to attain. I explained that I was an Atheist and had never been threatened as an America until the Bush Administration was installed in the white house. That got me knocked off of even more Republican sites.
I seriously feel disenfranchised as there is no political party left that includes limited government, individual freedoms and personal responsibilities and a balanced budget. Would there ever be another party like the old GOP when they rode to success with their agenda and platform? I was involved in 1964 when the fiscal conservatives won the primary over the Rockefeller Republicans and that primary win was the one chance we had to bring America back to a balanced budget and a balanced political agenda. We all felt a terrible let down but we worked to try to find another fiscal conservative to run. We came close with Reagan but he didn't fulfill our promises.
Is there no hope left in America to try and keep our individual freedoms out of the hands of the religious right? I'm listening constantly for discussions of who might be running on the GOP ticket in 2008. The discussions are still focused on social issues and whether the religious right leaders would approve of a Rudy Giuliani or any candidate who was for sending the social issues back to the States?
I don't know where to go at this time and I have had many suggestions that I simply get out of America. Where does a Fiscal Conservative Atheist go?
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Come to the lighter side of life
Why not just become libertarian?
Good for you
I usually don't even scroll down when I see the Liberty Lady and the angry eagle. Websites decorated with the eagle tend to let predetermined political/religious affiliation determine their views (and I guess the same is true for the other side), but the headline made me curious enough to read the entire post, and I'm glad I did.
About a month ago I wrote a similar post about my experience with Democratic Underground, which is so obsessed with finding Right-wing infiltrators that any opposing point of view is immediately deleted. Just like I couldn't publish a comment against Democratic Baltimore mayor O'Malley, you can't seem to publish a true conservative view on supposedly conservative sites. That's why I think these large sites are doomed. There's just so much we can stand tapping each other's backs.
Now, for the rest of your post, hopefully the Republicans will learn from 2006 and become less involved with fake moral issues. Elections shouldn't be about whether we believe in God or not. As for not voting for Democrats, I think the problem is not with a socialist, large-scale government, but with the fact that welfare is generously given to big businesses while people struggle each day to survive with no living wage. I feel Democrats are not for Socialism, but for a reversal of this policy.
WOW!!!
I feel the exact same way about many Democratic internet sites as you do about some Republican sites. I don't think being a Democrat does not automatically mean I am against all Republicans yet that seems to be expected of you. That is the trap a lot of political sites fall under...
The reason why I was so ecstatically happy about the November elections is because "checks and balances that were built into this government finally returned". Of course I was also happy the laziest and seemingly most corrupt 109th Congress would soon be over and that many new Democrats would take their spot too. I think the worst thing that happened these last six years is that for the most part this administration has been unchallenged.
Wasn't that enough?
Live Strong
You just keep on talking and stating your opinion and doing what you believe in. I would guess you stand behind people like Lincoln Chafee and Ron Paul. If I am wrong, let me know but these are Republicans I admire---yes, I admire Republicans. There are few that speak out and it is too bad they got caught up in losing major ground in 2006. (I am specifically referring to Chafee.)
http://patrioticintellect.blogspot.com
Constitution Party
The Constitution Party may not fit the atheistic beliefs but is the only party dedicated to following the Constitution and Bill of Rights as written. Republicans and Democrats blow smoke up your ass until they're elected and then fall right into place moving us towards one world socialistic government. Libertarians aren't so bad but they can't seem to agree on their own party platform. It seems that is has evolved over time to make it more palatable to the disenfranchised members of the two major political parties. However, it would be my second suggestion since at least they want to reign in the out of control federal behemoth that is foaming at the mouth to remove what is left of our civil liberties.
civil liberties
Our Civil Liberties have been compromised ever since Clinton signed the okay for the DUI law. That opened the door for a person to be charged guilty before being proved innocent. I know many law abiding citizens, including myself, who have been victimized and criminalized by this law. Our representatives can not be unaware of this situation, but the revenue that this law creates is too appealing. What can we do to gain our liberties back and protect our Constitution?
"There's no way to rule innocent men. . When there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."
--Ayn Rand
The Other Civil War
I have a great deal of sympathy for your plight, and actually long for the kind of Republican you represent to retake the stage.
We remember you, even those of us who are now radicalized anti-Goppers. Willkie, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight David Eisenhower, Everett Dirksen, Gerald Rudolph Ford, Barry Goldwater, Charles Percy.... the list of decent and honorable leaders in the Republican past is a long one.
When that kind of a Republican took office, those of us who disagreed could at least rest assured that the Republic was in capable hands, even if we didn't like the policies. That sense of assurance no longer exists-we must now wonder how badly the botching will be, and how many people will be hurt by it. When the decent Republicans in the mainstream rise together to repudiate the Jesusistani pandering hatemongers who have infested the Republican leadership, you can expect that a lot of us who would never consider ourselves to be Republicans will be cheering you on. What's good for the country is also good for us.
Athiests and Anarchists
These are perhaps the two most rational religious and political positions. Thus they are relegated to accusations of extremism and impracticality. If you want to fit in obviously mainstream parties and religions will harbor a grudge against those who do not fit the mold. Many times the two are so intertwined that sympathy for such a position is immediately marginalized and vilified. The most tolerant party in terms of personal belief would be the LP.