Are You An Active Conservative?

I’ll ask this question a few times over the next few lines. When you see the words “are you an active Conservative” consider the question and the lines preceding it before answering. There is no right or wrong answers to this question, but I think there is great value in knowing where you stand.

If you understand the basic principles and fundamental truths brought forth by Ronald Regan, George Washington, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Thomas Sewell and Abraham Lincoln you probably are a Conservative and possibly an Active Conservative.

If you think all these people are about is the rich getting richer, keeping the impoverished down, taking away rights of Americans, perpetuating racism, being a religious zealot, warmongering, homophobia, opposing all immigration, arming everyone with a firearm and and are only old hairy, white men then you are not a Conservative and most certainly NOT an Active Conservative.

Scholar R. J. White wrote : "To put conservatism in a bottle with a label is like trying to liquify the atmosphere […] The difficulty arises from the nature of the thing. For conservatism is less a political doctrine than a habit of mind, a mode of feeling, a way of living."

I think this is a pretty accurate description and a nod at the nature of what it is to be a Conservative. What it misses is that by our very definition we are used to being more reserved and less likely to be vocal. We are taught keep your head down, work hard and all will be well. Don’t cause a scene, don’t rock the boat, work hard and it will all work out. That has brought on complacency and has brought forth a need for Active Conservatives.

An Active Conservative is someone who is not considered to be part of what is any longer accepted as normal. They look a little different, talk a lot different, are not generally accepted because of their belief in themselves and their disbelief in government. An Active Conservative can usually be identified by believing in and actively promoting the following:
- Placing ideas and principles above desire, fear and regret.
- Never ending quest for truth.
- Devotion to the principles of justice.
- Teaching self-help vice help yourself hand outs.
- Recognizing the power of the free market.
- Self control and self reliance as opposed to self indulgence.
- Supporting self defense.
- More examples here.

Now look at yourself, are you an Active Conservative? I know I am. As a matter of fact I couldn’t live with myself if I was anything else. If you are a Conservative then you owe it to your children, your grandchildren, your conscience and America to stand up and speak up. Accept the following realizations and use that knowledge both as comfort and cause for action:
- Your voice has power in spite of what the state run media and the government would have us to believe.
- Your actions are the catalyst for others actions and reactions.
- Other people feel the same as you do but are afraid to speak up or speak out against things they know are wrong.
- Your core beliefs are not the problem. Society and the government and their move away from God, the Constitution and the framework provided is the problem.
- This is still America and you are still free. Free to speak, free to stand, free to protest, free to oppose. Doing these things DO NOT MAKE YOU UNAMERICAN!
- That nagging voice in your head crying out for action doesn’t make you a bad person. It’s the same voice the founding fathers heard and used to construct the Constitution.
- Do whatever you can. Not everyone can be Glenn Beck or famous, but we ALL have the ability to pen a letter, send an email, make a phone call or send smoke signals to our Representatives and let them know where we stand and that we will vote according in all coming elections.

Are you an Active Conservative? There is only so much time left in this crazy world and we are losing the things that made America the greatest country in the world and the greatest Republic in history every day. Wake up Conservatives and realize what is going on around you. Recognize, educate yourself, educate your neighbors and get active. Take back your existence or watch it wither and die.

All this lends itself to the old military slogan of “Lead, Follow or Get the F Out of the Way!” A short phrase meaning little more than stand up and take action either by; leading me if you are a better leader, following me if you aren’t a better leader, but at the very minimum don’t get in my way and prohibit me from taking action and making a difference.

I want to give a tip of the hat to Big Rube and Outkast for the inspiration for this post. I was riding into work this morning and heard “True Dat (interlude)” and couldn’t help but make the connection between the two. So I have to give credit where credit is due. When’s the last time a Conservative cited a rap group as an inspiration? Hmm…those wily Conservatives they will do anything to surprise a Liberal.

Shane