Conservative Corner: Lifting the Vail of Conservative Wonder

We all have had those family gatherings, whether it is Thanksgiving or Christmas, where topics come up and bring out some very interesting conversations.  Of course most every conversation will eventually morph itself into philosophy and politics. From the proverbial “Uncle Bob”, the right-wing, gun-toting, conservative, to “Cousin Louise”, the left-wing, feminist, liberal, and everyone in between, we have all been witness to some very spirited family debates.  It is true; everyone in the family has an opinion.

When you think of the term “Conservative” what comes to mind? The opinions are as varied as the term itself. According to dictionary.com, conservative is being traditional in style or manner, or who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc. It promotes the idea of traditional social and political ways of thinking. They are not necessarily rich, old, white men. As you may notice, there are many people who are old, rich, and white. Many of them are liberals. Many republicans are conservatives, but not all conservatives claim the Republican Party. It takes all kinds of people to be considered conservative.

 Mitchell L. is an accounting student at LBCC. He claimed he didn’t know a lot about the group and believed that they liked things a certain way and didn’t approve of change. Mellissa J., an auto-tech student, doesn’t know a lot about any kind of political group, but she does have conservative influences in her life. I have spoken to those who seemed convinced that conservatives are evil and need to be silenced at all costs.

Because of their traditional values, conservatives adhere to and have a strong connection to their faith, family, and country. They may be religious, but not necessarily considered “Bible-thumpers”. They may not have a large family, but deeply love those they care about. They may not be overly patriotic, but do have a solid love for the country. Many Veterans also have conservative values.

Because of their values, most have a strong connection to The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the Bible. Conservatives staunchly support The Bill of Rights, especially the 1^st and 2^nd Amendments. Does that make them better Americans? In the coming weeks we will explore what makes a conservative person tick and attempt to show that the typical conservative is not just an old, rich, white man, or a conspiracy theorist, gun-toting, trailer-trash, redneck. The average conservative deserves just as much respect as anyone else.