Commentators on radio and television who label themselves Conservatives generally support their political arguments with undefined talk of "limited government" and their "Biblical roots"...both being open to many interpretations. Their rantings opposing the Obama Administration give me a sense of what they are against, but not precisely what they are for...and more importantly, what exactly are their guiding principles and what proof, if any, do they offer that their positions on the issues are correct.
If Conservative Republicans are to become a serious alternative to both liberal Democrats and liberal Republicans, and for them to obtain the support of thoughtful voters, they will need to answer the following questions with specificity:
1. Which particular federal programs should be eliminated in their entirety? Why?
2. Which particular federal programs should be reduced in size? To what size? And why?
3. What new federal programs should be implemented? Why? At what cost? How will it be paid for?
4. Should the federal deficit be eliminated, and if so, how? Should all new federal programs that would generate a deficit be rejected?
5. Should an abortion be legal if the pregnancy was the result of incest? Rape? If it endangers the life of the mother? If the mother-to-be is under age? What age?
6. Should homosexual unions be legally recognized as fully as are heterosexual marriages, and would the parties to such unions enjoy the same rights as marriage partners? If not, in what ways? And why?
7. What specifically should be the principles guiding our country's relationships with other countries? To what extent, if any, should we have diplomatic relationships with countries whose priniples and actions are antagonistic to American ideals of freedom and equality?
8. What should our missions be in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan...one of total victory over the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other terrorists, or one of containment?
9. Once those missions are set, should their military implementation be determined by the President or by the military?
10. Should nuclear weapons be used against our enemies? If so, under what conditions?
11. Should our income tax system have each adult pay the same dollar amount of tax on the theory they each receive the same government services and protection?
12. Should a military draft be declared unconstitutional, as violating a pperson's freedom and right to life?
13. Should the use of hard drugs by an adult be decriminalized on the theory that the only restraint there ought be in a free country is the initiation of force against others?
14. Should adult prostitution be legalized since it does not entail the use of force against others?
15. Should the Bible or other religious writings continue to be used as the ultimate authority of what is moral or immoral> Or should that be determined by know, rather than merely believe on faith: the reality of man's nature and the nature of the world he lives in? Do you recognize that your belief in God is no stronger than the terrorists' belief in their God?
16. Is it the Conservative view of man that he is a link in a social chain, a member of a group obliged to act in the interest of the group? Or is each man an independent sovereign being?
Answers to the above questions, and others, will determine whether Conservatism will become a central political force in our country, or remain on the vociferous fringe.
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