Blue Collar Muse

In-fighting is part of politics. There are fierce battles for position and conflict over who gets the credit and who the blame.

Usually it’s kept from public view. But not always. The very public spat between Ron Paul supporters and the rest of the Right is a good example of a “not always” moment. So is Mike Huckabee’s lambasting of Libertarians. And Christians are being scape-goated for the GOP’s declining brand popularity due to strongly held views on social issues and Creationism.

Unchecked, the Right may succeed in disemboweling itself. Staunching the bleeding is hard as restricting faith to the heart prevents mental use of biblical warnings about divided houses. Worse, successful “kills” deplete the Right’s strength. We agree on more than we disagree. There are some very real differences and these will need to be worked out. But using exclusion as a tool in this working out is precisely the wrong approach.

Coexisting is not the same as embracing. Social Conservatives can work with Libertarians without embracing the legalization of all drugs and eradication of all borders. Libertarians can reciprocate without “walking an aisle” or surrendering any presumed intellectual superiority. This strengthens us all at little cost. Intentionally devouring one another, on the other hand, not only thins the ranks physically, it depletes stores of philosophical and principle based strength as well.

Consider the Christians. What is to be gained and what lost if we politically excommunicate them?

No more sheep bleating about abortion and the sanctity of marriage. No more accusations of ignorance over Creationism or Intelligent Design. If that is all that’s lost, perhaps it’s a good thing to give believers the “Left Foot of Fellowship” as they exit the building. But what else do we lose?

We lose the stature and strength Christianity has to speak truth to power. From Nathan to King David and John the Baptist to Herod to William Wilberforce to Slavers and today’s Pro-Lifers, Christianity has been the platform from which many a naked emperor’s exposure has been exposed.

We lose the foundation from which to fight the relativism of the Left. The culture we enjoy did not simply arise from nothing. Christianity provides instruction to those who value it. Imperfectly built structure? Absolutely. But a valuable structure, nonetheless. 16th Century Europe birthed two influences on developing Western Civilization. The Renaissance, steeped in “Man is the measure of all things”, gave us Humanism and the French Revolution with its horrors. The Reformation, steeped in “God is the measure of all things”, gave us the means to judge the behavior of all men, even Kings, and the American Revolution with its Freedoms and Rights.

Evangelicals who would force Libertarians from the ranks produce a similar drain. The works of Hayek, Rand and von Mises may not be theological masterpieces in the Christian sense. But their impact on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness cannot be overestimated. We need people who champion their beliefs as we need those who champion Christian faith.

Those with their minds made up will accept no argument to the contrary. To them I offer a hearty Godspeed and Fair Winds. You are going where I cannot and dare not follow. But for those who agree, and more importantly to those who are unsure, I offer a welcome to the Don’t Go Movement.  Based on the premise that which unites us is more important than that which divides us, DGM is a community dedicated to working together despite differences.  The New Testament word for “unity” is “symphonia”. The unity of the disparate instruments in a modern symphony is not all sounding the same. Rather it is all sounding together, at the proper time and with their individual contributions.

At DGM you’ll find a broad range of philosophies and principles.  While all are Right of Center, not all who are Right of Center hold them. It makes for spirited debate. It makes for a learning experience. And serving in unity makes us a near unstoppable force when we turn, as one, to focus on that which we both hold dear.

Join us won’t you?  Woodwind or brass, percussion or string, we’ve got a chair with your name on it.  Come lend your passion to the pieces we play.  You won’t be sorry!

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Tuesday night, Barack Obama spoke to a waiting country and a wondering world. Found in his words are a myriad reasons to reject what he stands for. The election is over and Obama is President.  Some say the healing must now begin and we must unite behind Barack. Obama himself appealed “…to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn — I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.”

I say, Obama will be the President; but he will never be my President. Obama wants what he is unwilling to give. To get the job, Obama divided us. Now on the job, he yearns for unity’s strength. But leopards don’t change their spots.  As he ran, so will he govern. I will not be a party to that.

Obama’s speech text is here. The video is here.   Please read it before reading my comments.

When Obama “wonders if the dream of our founders is alive”, I remember what those Founders wrote. They were “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Obama believes some men are more equal than others. When advocating for nonexisent rights or for granting more rights to some than to me, he will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama says he wants to “… renew this nation’s promise … to restore prosperity … to reclaim the American Dream …”; when he speaks of “remaking this nation” I must ask, when was the promise broken and by whom; who stole our prosperity; who moved the American Dream out of reach of everyday Americans and who pulled down our nation that it needs to be remade? For a century, it has been the ideological allies of Barack Obama who have done so. When raising our taxes, curtailing our liberty, weakening the defense of our country and bankrupting our businesses and Economy - Obama will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama says his Presidency was launched in “the living rooms of Concord” and financed “by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give … to this cause” I marvel at his deception. When he enters the Oval Office it will complete a journey begun in the living room of William Ayers’ and which traveled a path financed by thousands of people Obama will not identify, many of whom are not even Americans. He will enter the office of the President, but not my President.

When Obama says “… the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime …” and references our military and families worried about tomorrow, I recoil in horror from the cavalier exploitation of those about whom he is ignorant. My son is in the military he will command and I have four more children at home to care for. When he sends my son into harm’s way but threatens not to support him while there; when he takes money for which I labor and which I need to support my family to give to families he decides need it more he will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama calls for “a new spirit of patriotism”, I struggle to find something wrong with the old one. When Obama gives away our sovereignty and national interests to our enemies and those who would weaken us he will be the President, but not my President.

When Obama calls for us to “look after not only ourselves, but each other” and to believe “that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers” I marvel at his hypocrisy. Under the old spirit of “service and responsibility” he would replace, Americans were the most generous and industrious people on earth. When Obama decides who it is I must sacrifice for and brings suffering to Main Street via higher taxes for the Wall Street Bailout he will be the President, but not my President.

Obama’s words are empty. His promise is hollow. His dreams are nightmares. To be my President, he must deny everything he confesses to believe in. He must repudiate his stated policies. He must realize the paradise he seeks is found in the principles and promises of others. As the President, he may invoke the imagery of Lincoln, King and Kennedy but his appeal to their memory defiles their legacy.

He says he will be my President.  But he will not because he cannot.  To expect me to believe otherwise insults me.  And that, too, is something my President would not do.

Blue Collar Muse

ADDITIONAL READING:

Two for Thursday by Preston Taylor Holmes @ Six Meat Buffet.

After Action Report by Rumbler @ Red State Rumblings.

The Difference Between “the” and “my” by Steveegg @ No Runny Eggs.

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