Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Why Just This Cause?

First, I want to say that I'm pro-life. I'm not critcizing the activists who marched for life in cities across America yesterday, the 35th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade decision. But the protests on that historic date got me thinking about a question that's been in the back of my mind for a while. Why don't conservatives protest like that for our other beliefs?

Conservatives do care about a whole range of issues. We want a strong defense. We support school prayer. We oppose gay marriage. We're the backbone of the fight against illegal immigration. And, of course, we're pro-life. As individuals we can be passionate about all of these causes. But the only one that consistently gets conservatives into the streets en masse is the cause for life. Why?

Liberals take to the streets in support of all of their varied causes; we don't. In 2006, for instance, illegal aliens and their liberal enablers massed in the streets demanding "their" rights. Counterdemonstrations by conservatives were always embarrassingly small, when they occurred at all. Polls showed that most Americans opposed amnesty for illegals and wanted tough border security, but the streets were filled only with those who supported illegal immigration. I was dismayed, to say the least. And it's the same story with other hot button issues such as gay marriage, the Iraq War, and global warming. Liberals are in the streets; we are at home.

I have no clue why we conservatives are such stay-at-home "true believers" on every cause except saving babies from abortion. I do know that this has to change. While mass demonstrations don't always accomplish the changes they seek, they DO powerfully communicate resolute committment to those changes on the part of the demonstrators. And that's not something the powers that be are quick to forget. We conservatives, then, had better get over our shyness about demonstrating in support of all our causes, or else get used to our creeping irrelevance.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, this is just my opinion, so take that for what it's worth. :-) I think that liberals just have that much more "idle" time on their hands.

Anonymous said...

You hit the nail right on the head with this one. I have asked myself that very same question. I do not see why, when the Republicans' ideals are right, why they are so afraid to stand up for them. Never could understand that. They are as willing to let the right go down the tubes, as the Liberals are willing to make us all believe the wrong is right. Give me a break.
We need to get back to the America that has citizens that are proud of this country, and the rest of the world reveres us.


-Robert-

Seane-Anna said...

"...and the rest of the world reveres us." And I would add, fears us.

WomanHonorThyself said...

youre so right..we need to be much more proactive girl!!!

Tapline said...

excellent post. Your reasoning is right on target. I don't know the answer....stay well.....

JMK said...

I think both dragonlady & elwoodin are onto the answer....Conservatives tend to be, more often than not, people leading productive/working lives. While they'll occassionally mobilize en masse as they did with the recent call-ins over illegal immigration, BUT for the most part, they're simply too busy leading productive lives, to engage in activist protests, all that much.

Look at the people in the Military, look at the cops, firefighters and other people who either run businesses or hold down demanding, F/T jobs - they don't protest much, because they're lives, and the way they live them, represent their views and values.

What free time such people have is much better spent with family, treasuring those moments when they're available.

More than that, Conservatives tend to have a much more positive, optimistic view of America and Americanism or the "American lifestyle" - they LIKE their jobs, their neighbors, their families and their country.

Liberals, on the other hand, always agitate for "change," and that seems largely because they DON'T like the way things are, they don't like their lives, therir jobs, their neighbors, their country nearly as much as Conservatives do...so, they tend to be far more willing to trade that commodity (their free time) to protest in favor of "change," or a "re-shuffling of the deck," so to speak.

Think about it, one of the things that really makes Talk Radio so successful a medium is, not only that it taps into the viewpoints already held by the majority, but because it offers an optimistic, hopeful and loving/respectful view of America and Americanism.

Likewise, one of the reasons that AAR (Liberal Talk radio) has failed is because it consistently offered a cynical, pessimistic and skeptical view of America and Americanism.

Another way of looking at it is that Liberals have to go SOMEWHERE else to hold up signs and protest the things they DON'T LIKE, while Conservative's daily lives - their jobs, their families, etc. all represent the things they DO BELIEVE IN, each and every day.