Okay, I’m picking on “the Right” because that’s what I used to be and to some extent, I still am. I would say that I’m a conservative leaning libertarian. Anyway, let’s continue.
Conservatives and the “Right” think that they are right of course and that it is their value system that should generally be adhered to in the culture at large and they think the way to do this is by using the law and the power of government to force society into the image that they’ve determined society should be molded into and by God if society doesn’t agree then it shall be damned!
The problem with this is, for one, it doesn’t work and two, it will come back and bite you in the posterior, as should be abundantly clear to them by now and yet that doesn’t seem to be the case. Conservatives and the “religious right” continue to use the same tactics. They think that if they could only get the right person(s) elected or appointed to the “Supreme Court” or the right law that that will do the trick or at least be a start at turning things around. It’s pure nonsense!
Let me offer an alternative by taking one issue and illustrating how they could facilitate change without using the law and coercion to get their way: Let us take the issue of gay marriage. The “Christian Right” and other conservatives abhor the idea that people of the same sex could be “married” and I would argue that in reality they can’t in the truest sense of the concept but that’s beside the point here. You see conservatives are missing the real point by not recognizing that it’s simply not the place of government to concern itself with marriage at all.
I would ask, why, in a free society, do the free citizens require permission from the government to marry to begin with? Why do so many states still require marriage licenses and why must a preacher have a license to marry people? This is really well beyond what the role of government ought to be. Therefore, if two women or two men or a man and a woman want to “get married” it’s really no business of anyone’s but their own.
And why is that, you may ask? Well, first of all it’s not about what is or isn’t the proper definition of marriage. What it is about however, is property rights. Question: who owns you; who owns your body? I’m going to assume that you answered that question by saying that ultimately YOU own your body. If you don’t own it then who does – the state; the government; your boss; your neighbor? NO, you own your own body and therefore it is you that should decide what you do with it correct? So long as you don’t use aggression or violence against any other’s person or property of course.
(personally, as a believer; one who believes that Christ gave his life for me and that because I believe this I have willingly relinquished my ownership rights to him but that’s my choice just as in marriage you may relinquish your rights to your property and to your own body giving it, in love, to the other person. My opinion)
You see, once you make this a “law” issue you have already lost the battle because whoever is in charge of making the laws can always change them as indeed they have. It’s just an endless tug-of-war depending on whose pulling the harder at the time. Cutting government and their laws out of the equation leaves it to the individual and ultimately the culture.
If conservatives want the culture to reflect their values they must accomplish this by influencing the culture through their own good behavior and actions and not by coercion and threat of violence. And in looking at both Christ’s teachings and the teachings of the Apostles, it is quite clear that this is the biblical position as well and it’s done basically, one person at a time. Even God doesn’t use force to bring people to the Faith.
What the “right” needs to consider is that it’s really a matter of “if you live by the sword; you die by the sword”. If conservatives want to win they must take the sword, i.e. the power of government enforcement of laws, out of the hands of the opposition and therefore out of their own hands. The battle that ought to be fought is one that both sides should agree upon and that is, the right to their own property and their own bodies. This is a win-win position!
When it’s about property then the baker has a right to do with his property whatever he wants and if he doesn’t want to make a wedding cake for a “gay couple” then he doesn’t have to. Why? Because it’s his business; it’s his labour; it’s his time; it’s his money and if he doesn’t want to exchange it with another person for their money he shouldn’t have to and regardless of whether it’s bad or good for his business in the long run, it’s his business right?
If homosexuals want to get married that’s their business. It’s a private affair and should be left out of the purview of government altogether. Sex shouldn’t be anyone’s business but the people who are doing it. It’s not a public matter even though both sides seem to want to make one. No one has a right to force others to accept their values or their morals and that, again, goes for both sides. You may live your life as you see fit but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with it and if I don’t why does that somehow make me a bigot?
The “Left” and modern liberals don’t have it right either. The same arguments apply to both camps. If gays and made-up genders want to be free to live however they please and marry whomever they please then using the power of government is a very poor way to do it. It’s only going to cause those who don’t already accept your lifestyle to fight back with even more fervor, after all, nobody likes to be told what to do let alone what to think right? I would argue, in fact, that this is partly why Donald Trump won the election. (blow-back) Like I said: “you live by the sword; you die by the sword”.
Until people figure out that the state and the power of government can only take away liberty and freedom and not give it we will continue to lose our liberty and our natural rights and our money.