Final Reflections 3 - Some Political Observations/Predictions

I've always wanted a chance to clear the air (so to speak) regarding my political inclinations. In choosing an icon, I finally decided that "Indy" was the least likely to misrepresent my views... That was the pro... the con was that it really doesn't tell anyone where I stand on anything. That is truly unfortunate.

Politics matter... other than religion, politics divide people (especially Americans) more than a lot of other things. It strikes me that over the years, I've leaked out some political rants at times, but never completely connected it all together. So, here that goes...

But, first, a disclaimer: I'm still young and young people haven't experienced everything that shapes a political outlook. I began with a lot of ideological views and when those did not work out, I switched to other ideological views and only now I am beginning to realize that in practice, it is never ideological.

So here this thread goes...

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I'll join you with this one.

When I started posting here at CF, I was confused with my faith, where I stood in regards to being conservative, liberal since that stuff in the modern day churches is important...about just as important as believing in god or Jesus in my opinion but I'll leave my cynical/sarcastic comments from here on out for another thread.

The liberal political ideas were enticing. Things about the Bush administration I didn't agree with. So in a way it was almost like, getting dumped by a girl and then you find another one to make out with really fast to ease the pain. Get all physical with the new one, embrace her to some degree and that other girl gets out of your head quick all the while, not going the full nine and also never giving serious commitment...hence the reason why I'll join paxi to clear the air of my political beliefs as well. I've done that before, hence why the analogy works for me.

Now? The only way one could call me a 'liberal' is because I believe in classical liberalism which is foundational for conservative thinking be it moderate-extremist types of conservatives or because I'm ok with Roe vs. Wade since allowing abortion doesn't mean endorsing it. Being on this forum for over 5 years, I have changed in the past 5 years. I no longer follow Jesus. I am no longer convinced of a god of any sort. I am re-thinking that end position though by allowing myself to question and seek things but that doesn't make me anything. I am anti-Obama's policies when at first sight, the way I 'used to be' one would think I would support...especially since I voted for the man. I am anti-left-wing politics.

My prediction is I will be confirmed in my political views soon by attending protests and my continual ranting and raving about the government I helped get into office. Only because, this is the FIRST time I have actually realized I actually believe in.

So if I confused, misled anyone, I apologize only for the confusion I accidentally gave and the misleading I accidentally gave and nothing else.

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“I've eaten things that didn't complain this much.”-Denis Leary

"Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense."-Edward Blake-The Comedian in The Watchmen

Understandable...
May this be a place for anyone to clarify their views... everyone/anyone feel free to join in.

Okay, my story is a lil complicated and takes place over the course of several presidential administrations. But let me start by saying I hold the "Indy" icon as it is the only one which does not (in my opinion) tie me to a set of views which I may not completely agree with. I could actually justify wearing the Green icon, the Republican icon, the Democratic icon or the Libertarian icon... I could make a fair argument for any of these but none would completely convey my actual views (and would most likely lead people to think I believed/stood for things I don't).

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I ended up at CF just to pass on the...GOOD NEWS !... that God is in control of absolutley everything that is going on.

So you do not have to worry about somthing your not in control of....which includes the number of your months.

Polotics to me is a nothing, like we are as nothing dust and ashes blowing in the wind...100 years from now nothing will have changed.

There is nothing new under the Sun....God will still be in control.

Peace

That's kind of James 2:16, man.

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"Many of us...have been willing to put our foot down on this issue to state publicly and strongly that it's not right how immigrants in this country are being treated, especially how they're being portrayed as criminals." --Bishop Jaime Soto

My view is that if everyone behaved and chipped in a bit, we wouldn't need a government.

But there are too many people who like to get over on others, so we need a goverment.

And IMHO, the government should be large enough to keep that from happening.

I'd like the idea of a smaller government if people would just chip in a bit more and behave themselves.

Some cities have 200 cops per square mile, and some cities have only one cop per square mile.

It seems to me that the best place to start to make government smaller would be when people took care of their own business. In some case that means having grandma move back in with them when she needs help. To give a job to the guy that may turn to crime to feed himself.

And if this behaviour was global, you wouldn't need armies.

-Leonard Cohen

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I removed my "Christian" icon, as it serves no purpose here.

James 2: 1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.

8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"[
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] you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.


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Well...
basically, I began at the standpoint of a traditional Republican (but NOT neo-con) origin. That was my family, that was my upbringing. For most of my growing up days, the Reagan Era was looked back upon with nostalgia as something possibly resembling 'the good old days'. Now, I've seen the electoral maps from 1980 and 1984 and the whole country was drowning in red (so I KNOW that some liberals voted for Reagan). I can't say a lot about the Reagan years cuz I was pretty young... yeah, I was alive through it all, but it wasn't like I really could have my own political opinion as a 7yr old...
but I have the lasting impression/belief that there was a strong Libertarian strand then, enough of a live and let-live approach that simultaneously allowed for the more liberal and the more conservative groups to do their own thing and live in peace. I'm sure someone will come along who was older during those years and will tell me how different it was. They are probably right.
My family was always traditional Republican, libertarian leaning (but NOT neo-con, NEVER that). It was OK that other people lived completely different lives, it was OK that parts of the country were uberliberal... what mattered was 1) That we did our thing in our part of the country in peace and 2) Others didn't screw with that.
We were mainline Christians, not necessarily evangelicals. We could respect other faiths, while keeping our own...
Foreign policy was to approached conservatively (that is, by as little as possible)... now, if some country effed with America, we by ALL means should eff em back.

But, day to day life/existence was mainly conservative where we lived.

So, this is my foundation as I understand it... although it may not be Libertarian per se (as a Libertarian icon for me would still not be appropriate)... there was a general respect for live-and-let-live that I've always believed in. I know that all ideological positions break down and I know that if someone is raping and cutting up kids in their basement, someone MUST invade that pervert's privacy and make it stop...

But, wherever possible, I do think this approach to be best. I always have. Although my personal lifestyle choices have ended up being significantly more "liberal" than the "conservative" way in which I was raised, this is the part of my upbringing I hold onto... a basic sense that in most things, let people live how they choose and let God judge.

The solution to the culture wars? Have both sides stop fighting and learn to keep some distance. We're never going to get the America that Ann Coulter wants... we're never going to get the America that Al Franken wants- but, maybe, just maybe we can have a country where they can co-exist (albeit in very different parts).

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Well, it was in the era of the First Bush that things got kinda crazy politically from my perspective. Once again, I've compared electoral maps... in 1988, the country is still drowning in red and yet in 1992 it is drowning in blue. I've always believed that something really freaky happened during those 4 years. From what I've gathered about Bush Sr, I would not have liked him much better than Bush Jr.

Well, I guess several things happened:
-when it came to taxes and the economy, Bush Sr. was talking out his behind
-The whole Persian Gulf War fiasco (which was really a continuation of America's poor approach to the Middle East, specifically Iraq from the '60's onward in which apparently Democrats effed up just as much as Republicans... and it was also the beginning point of this whole thing with Al-Qaeda and terrorism). In other words, it was a big mess already in 1989-1992. Bush Sr. certainly did not cause the mess, but he also made it worse (so did Clinton, btw). But yea, that war changed the thinking of people here...
-During these years, a significant part of my family (including me) went the Neo-Con route, even to the point of severing ties with the mainline Christian/ mainline Republican segment of my family. We became Evangelicals and began to focus on the Endtimes and the threat that "liberals" might endanger our future...this led to:
*boycotting porno stores
*participating in LifeChain marches (to protest abortion)
*doing door to door evangelism/passing out chick tracts
*opposing homosexuals (though, for some reason, even as a kid, this felt out of place to me)
*Etc... I don't really need to wax on about the Neo-Con mindset

By the end of the first Bush era, there was a lot of momentum in our community, especially in the churches, I had just turned 12 and was faithfully turning into a model young Republican Neo-Conservative...always armed with my Bible and with my Christian rock music, ready to battle with Satan himself...

and then...

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The movements in my community must have been in the minority, for in November 1992, an apocalypse of sorts took place: Bill Clinton usurped Bush's rule. In my political and religious context, we really did think it was the Apocalypse... I truly expected to be seeing the moon turning blood red, to see the stars fall from heaven... I was told that the return of Democrat power to the White House would bring the book of Revelation to come to pass. By the end of 1992, I was truly scared of what all of this meant.

As power transitioned from Bush to Clinton (~November 1992 - ~August 1993), I reached the height of my personal Neo-Con fundamentalism. At no other point in my life was I the radical fundamentalist that I was in those days. There was a lot of reactionism. After the first attack on the World Trade Center (which really should be understood as a continuation of America's long-standing fiasco in the Middle East), we began to hate Clinton even more.

Throughout 1993, I hated Clinton. I hated his freaking guts and I thought he had some role to play in the rise of the Anti'Christ. I believed what I was told: that he was a communist and that he had plans to change healthcare, force abortions on everyone and that Hillary specifically wanted to turn America into China. This would include, I was led to believe, the banning of the Christian religion... soon, I was told, I could expect to be openly persecuted in America for being Christian.

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It's funny how you hear the same things now.

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