I can’t help but feel I’ve written this exact article before. I mean, it seems like this literally never stops happening. Every week there’s some presidential hopeful gently massaging the religious right’s fear of pretty much everything in an effort to prove that they’re the man who can protect the most cowardly country in the world from the gays and minorities.
Apparently, Ben Carson feels like he’s up for the job, even though he doesn’t ever seem like he’s up for anything more stressful than a midday nap. Recently at a Christian school in Virginia, Carson promised to pass legislation that would protect the religious freedom of those who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, and put things “back in order.” I shudder to think what that means, and whatever law with the intent to put things “back in order” is probably going to be pretty terrible.
It’s not like he’s going to get elected or anything, but Carson’s statements perfectly illustrate what’s wrong with our country. We have a segment of the country that isn’t interested in facts or equality; they’re interested in pushing their opinions on other people at the federal level.
Everyone pushes an agenda on those around them; it’s just what people do. However, most rational people don’t try to control the thoughts and actions of the country through legislation. For instance, I don’t think that people should say “retard.” However, I recognize that a person’s right to to say it is protected by law, because it doesn’t have much of an effect on anyone’s life. People have a right to say a lot of awful things. Even though words can really hurt people, our country is better for having the protections that it has.
Why do conservatives constantly try to warp the country by way of the law? I thought that they were supposed to be the small government party. Banning gay marriage, increasing the penalties for minor drug offenses, and willfully restricting the protections of disadvantaged groups sounds like something an authoritarian government would pull. No wonder conservatives think that government doesn’t work; their own party can’t even stick to its principles.
Image provided by Donkey Hotey via Flickr under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
