IT'S ALL ABOUT FREEDOM. WHO WOULDA THOUGHT!?

People have said to me, how can a guy that likes guys work with social conservatives and evangelicals that believe that their existence is a sin? I have always maintained that my politics should support the greatest good for the greatest number of people, not merely my own particular issues. It's E Pluribus Unum, not the other way around. GayPatriot has a posting that hits this nail on the head:

Repeating commentshe made on another site about moderates attempting to dismiss religious conservatives within the Republican Party, Bill_Dalasio offers:

my main concern in politics is maintaining my freedom. And, in practical, definable terms, the daily threats to my liberty are not being pushed by religious conservatives. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve told me I’m breaking the law if I light up in a bar. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve forbidden me from buying food made with trans fats. It wasn’t religious conservatives who pushed speech codes on our college campuses and dictate hate crimes laws. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve made it a bureaucratic journey to buy a gun to protect my home and family. It isn’t religious conservatives I see trying to revive the fairness doctrine to specifically silence their political opposition. It wasn’t religious conservatives to gave us “campaign finance reform”. It isn’t the religious conservatives who have told me that I have to separate my trash, even to the point of removing individual trashcans in my office building.

Put bluntly, I can’t help but feel I’m being sold a bill of goods here. Progressives, with the full consent of moderates,…chip away consistently and unabashedly at my freedom. All the while, telling me how scared I should be of the religious conservative bogeyman hiding under the bed. Do I think there’s some religious conservatives who go over the top? Sure. But, marginalizing the religious conservatives en masse is a surefire way to empower just those religious conservatives who do go over the top. Moreover, I’m getting a little more than tired of being told to be scared about the threat to my liberty posed by my allies by people whose own behavior tells me they want nothing more than to restrict my freedom.

Emphasis added.

The issue, my friends, is freedom. This guy gets it.

Let me repeat, I, as a gay man, have no problem working in a political coalition with social conservatives so long as they don’t force me to promote legislation restricting freedom nor demand I enter some kind of ministry to “cure” me of my longings for affection with my own gender. Leave these people alone to practice their faith as they believe Scripture dictates. And leave me alone to interpret the same Scripture (or at least the first two-thirds thereof) in my own way.

And leave those who don’t hold to that Scripture free as well to live their lives as they see fit.

The issue is freedom. And in this age of increasing government control, we need focus on defending it.

I would much rather live in a free country than be a slave to the socialist nanny-state. I am an adult and I am capable of making my own decisions. What is frightening is that so many voted for slavery this last election.

I don't need some arrogant, black-rimmed glasses wearing, condescending dickhead with an English degree controlling every move I make down to how many freaking sheets of toilet paper I can use to wipe my own damn ass.

It's ironic, but brilliant that the left constantly puts up their big, scary image of the "nazi" right when in fact, their overriding motivations continually move us towards the institution of a totalitarian state. I don't think many of them even realize this- they just see themselves as enlightened saviors try to "help people" too stupid to help themselves. Again, if you haven't read it, Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism" is essential.