Where am I politically?
 

As many of you have noticed (I hope :rolleyes:), I've been gone for some time. I've not been idle. Other than the usual drama that seems to permeate my life (which I may post on the Philosphy thread, since it deals with that topic and I'd like a fresh set of outside opinion), I've found a sense of "where do I stand on ____?" happening.

[background]
For those of you that don't know me, I started out 5 years ago as an evolutionist, and a former Wiccan Priestess. I was exploring different religions in a "search for truth". If evolution was true, why have religion at all, since Gods (in any form) were merely human created reasons to exist?

I went through a dark time, and really needed to believe in something better, something higher than myself. The Mormon elders showed up. I was baptised a Mormon in Jan 2003, then they told me a bunch of stuff AFTER I was baptised (and I learned a bunch of stuff they still hadn't told me), and I freaked out and left the church in July 2003.

Met my husband at that time, a staunch Christian, and avid creationist. There were heated discussions. Intellectually, I couldn't get past evolution. Through some websites and some scientists who are creationists, I finally "got it", and now I am also a creationist, and also a literalist Christian. (Non-denominational) It's kind of convoluted, since I know as a Wiccan Priestess that Wicca as a practice works, but I've managed to include that in my Christianity.
[/background]

Lately (last 6 months or so), I've become more political than ever. Not as in activist, but as in "finding out what is out there", and trying to identify myself with a political group. I've taken the test but that doesn't tell me "what party I am". I wish they had a test like beliefnet.

My first thought was Libertarian, since I'm really down with the whole idea of going back to the Constitution and stripping the rest of the crap away, but I know that isn't going to happen, and I do not agree with their views on abortion.

I read the Heritage Guide to the Constitution (edited by Edwin Meese) and nearly cried. This is not how things are supposed to be.

So I thought, well, from a religious standpoint, I'm most like a Republican, since they are against abortion, gay marriage, and using dead babies for stem cell research. (Which I have alot to say about but not here.) But their leader is a freaking idjit, and it really pisses me off that he thinks he's in place due to divine providence. Um, in a word, no.

I am in the Crossings book club (Christian stuff) and got an advert for American Compass, which seemed like a good place to start. I got 4 books free, and picked the Heritage Guide, Godless (Ann Coulter), and a couple of financial books.

Godless blew me away. I still don't know what I am politically but it fueled the fire. I'm currently reading The Enemy at Home (Dinesh D'Souza) and I have ALOT of the indroduction highlighted already.

I'm pretty much an isolationist, I know that. I'm a Libertarian in the sense of "we HAVE to get back to the Constitution if we're going to make it", I'm Republican in the sense of their platform on social issues. BUT I truly believe in free will, and (from a legal standpoint) I don't want to ban abortion or force my religious belief (or moral code) on people. (My husband has a different view on this.)

Is there a party out there that encompases these ideas or do I just lump myself in with the party the most closely matches my beliefs? Would that be Libertarian or Republican? Some other party I haven't heard of?

Oh, and it's good to be back in the fray.... :worried: For now....

Hey, OnyxCougar! Welcome back!

Hey sweetie! I'm gonna go post some more drama in the "Seriousness" thread. You're gonna be .... insert emotion here ... when you read it. :p

Well OnyxCougar, I'm battling the same argument that you've been facing too. I think we all do to some degree. I consider myself and independent as I have very liberal views on some issues and very conservative ones on others. As an American, I believe it to be our responsibility to speak out on that which we disagree upon with respect to our government, but we must also support the decisions our government makes even though we may disagree with them initially. I know this is contradictory in some respects. We select these people to lead us and should support the decisions they make based on the information they have and we don't.
Sorry I'm rambling, but I think to answer your question of which party to align yourself with, you should either choose the party where you feel you have the most in common, or stay an independent.

Democrat.

Indirepublicratian

Seriously, Onyxcougar, don't get hung up on labels, vote for a candidate who has the same goals/philosophy/values that you do. Then, when (s)he breaks all his/her campaign promises, work to impeach him/her.

Heh. How sadly true.

I guess I should prioritze my goals/philosophy/values since I seem to be across the spectrum. Is abortion more important than foreign policy? Is taxation higher up than gay marriage?

Ugh. This political awareness crap can get on your nerve.

I'm way off over there somewhere, wandering between a goat and a scraggly willow tree.

I always vote for the plaid candidate, I say. They taste like turkey and dressing, and smell like daisies.

Did you try this test? It's from a Libertarian group.

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

Way too far right for me.


But seriously, if you are for or against something is politically irrelevant. It's whether or not you support LEGISLATING it.
For example, I think the world would be a MUCH better place if everyone was buddhist. But that does not mean in any way shape or form that I believe that it should be MANDATORY for everyone to be.

If you feel more strongly towards freedom than totalitarianism, go libertarian or democrat. If you feel more strongly towards everyone following your verson of morality, go republican.

Ibram, you constantly amaze me with many of your comments and I am surprised at your maturity for someone who is 15. However, that has to be the most immature, skewed, and innaccurate post you've written.

Personally, I don't see the relevance of your religion on your political views. They should remain entirely apart. If you are a "literalist Christian" as you claim, you should take the words of Jesus of Nazareth literally when he says judgment is reserved for god. Perhaps you should follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and keep your religion and politics completely separate and work to keep government out of church and church out of government.

If you are against abortion, you should not get one and don't exercise force to prevent others from getting them if they choose. Allow them to be judged by god. The same is true of prostitution, gay marriage, collecting stem cells, drug use, polygamy, etc.

These activities don't physically harm or endanger anyone other than potentially harming those taking part willingly in them. This means it's unreasonable to create a law against those things. After all, who are you or anyone else to force your own religious morality down the throats of others through legislation?

And make no mistake, force IS involved. If you do these things, men with guns show up and tell you to stop or they'll take away your freedom.

Clearly libertarianism is not for you, but you do seem to support some small government. This means the Republican and Democratic parties are also not for you. These parties are responsible for our moving so far away from the Constitution in the first place, and both grow government at faster and faster rates while violating our rights.

If anything, I'd say you fit into the Constitution/American Independent Party.

You should take a moment to check them out.

Here is their platform in PDF format.

http://www.constitutionparty.com/doc...CPPlatform.pdf

Or you can just visit their website...

http://www.constitutionparty.com

Welcome back, Onyx! If you really want to know where you stand politically, why not try the infamous Political Compass test ... It's actually a fairly good measure of where you stand.

Agreed, their are many versions of it as well.