Liberals like to say that all conservatives think alike. They do not. The more you involve yourself in the movement that is going on the more you realize this. I spend a great deal of time reading as much as I can about what is going on this great country of ours. I like being informed. I also like reading points of view other than my own. I strongly believe that reading other points of view solidify my own beliefs, and in some instances I learn something.
I also promised myself that I would stay true to own my voice and values. I have met some very nice people during this process. I have also met some not so nice ones as well. I have a twitter follower who is brutal. He calls me a Nazi. Which for the life of me I cannot understand as Nazi's believe in a powerful government and I firmly believe in a limited one.
On quite a few occasions I have been called a troll and traitor among other names. I was talking to someone the other day that I met through the tea party movement. She had what I believe to be her first experience with that.
She is medical professional who has very strong views on how nurses are treated in society. I really don't know a great deal about that topic as I have never worked in the medical field. But, she has dedicated her life to it.
She came across an article that someone had posted regarding Obamacare. The article is irrelevant, but the photo that was put with the article is not. It was a picture of nurse dressed in provocative clothing. A stereotype that makes her crazy. She was telling me that this is something that professional nurses have been fighting for what seems like forever. She made a comment on the picture and how it was not only a negative stereotype it also was degrading to women in general.
In return, she was a called a feminazi and liberal. Really? Since when did sexualizing women become a conservative value? Did the same people that made these comments feel that it was OK for Newsweek to put Gov. Palin on it's cover in running shorts? I have this feeling that the answer to that question is no.
There needs to be some things that we can accept that we agree upon. We should be able to agree for example that sexualizing women is not a healthy thing to do; it gives young girls the wrong impression of what they should become. Young girls see these images and feel like the need to look like Kate Moss in order to be considered attractive. Eating disorders among teenage girls is a serious problem in this country, and this is part of the reason why.
People think that because I am a conservative blogger that I can never say anything positive about President Obama. That simply isn't the case. While I will admit that it is hard for me to find things that I agree with him on, but one thing that I really do like about the president is the positive family image he projects. Family is the bedrock to our society. I have no way of knowing what the Obama's are like in private, but the public image is of a man who loves his two little girls and wants to be a positive role model for them. This is a good message that in many ways gets lost in our society; and it should not. As conservatives, we need to promote family values and everything good that brings to our children. While we may disagree on what constitutes a family, we can agree that family is important.
We are never going to agree on everything. Life would be pretty boring if we did. But the conservative movement needs to learn to be nicer to one another and to not to revert to name calling simply because someone has a one or two viewpoints that may be different than our own. Especially when that view point is about treating women as a sexual object instead of a human being with real emotions that deserves dignity and respect.
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10 comments:
This is one of most relevant and poignant posts that I have read in some time. We have to listen to each other, and not resort to name calling when we disagree. Other ideas and opinions challenge us. We have to be able to debate and learn from each other, or we're no better than the leftists that call us Teabaggers.
And I hope I won't get into trouble with this: his comment about if and when one of his girls gets pregnant, and he doesn't want a baby to stand in their way. That is why he is pro-abortion. I think he puts on a good show, and that is what it is.
Linda:
that may or may not be true, but the reality remains that generally he is viewed as a good family man. That is important to our society and something that we are losing more and more every generation.
JACG, we are all sexual beings. It is difficult to keep all sexuality off of the blogs, which become our journals, in a way. Where to draw the line between gazing at God's creation in an admiring way (beautiful women) or setting women up as sex objects (T & A I assume) is up to the individual.
Thank God we have the freedom to determine the answers for ourselves, and we do not live under the iron fist of Sharia courts.
I certainly appreciate your point of view, and I hope I stay on the tasteful side of the spectrum, while enjoying what is nice about the world.
Opus:
That may be true, but to call someone else names because they point out a stereotype of a particular profession that contain people who are very well educated is a different animal.
For sure, JACG. Hey, you did fine. It's just my defensiveness, I guess. No worries. For sure, maybe those guys calling the lady names are defensive, in a more vicious way. You know how people act when they know they are doing wrong, and somebody calls them on it.
JACG,
There is the Golden Rule; Do onto to others as you would have them do onto you.
While Hussein portrays a good family man the polocies he puts forth are ripping OUR families apart and this situation is tenfold in already depressed urban communities.
I find absolutely nothing admireable or positive about Hussein, it is all a facade in an attempt to do what you did in this post; portray him in a positive light.
Just my perspective.
christopher:
You missed my entire point. This post wasn't about Obama, it was about conservatives ripping other conservatives apart.
JACG, this is a great article. I will agree that Obama is apparently a success in the Parenting category. Aside from Obama, I agree 100% that conservatives need to be unified and civil with EACH OTHER... and not stoop to the immorality of the left. If we are conservative, we don't believe in moral relativism... we shouldn't stoop to the left's tactics. All we have to do is point out their records and policies, and hit them hard with truth. Name-calling has never been an effective tactic and IMHO diminishes one's credibility.
This was a very good post. I understand that your post was directed at conservatives, but it applies to everyone. One thing that kills me is when someone attributes human weaknesses (hypocrisy, name calling, dishonesty, etc.) to those on the opposite side of the political spectrum. If someone is engaging in any of these tactics, it's not because of their political viewpoint, it's because they don't have the skills to support their argument.
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