Why I Am A Conservative

by Gordon Cooper

Despite the onus that has been placed upon the label, namely that all conservatives are non-thinking, closed-minded, cold-hearted, racist, homophobic, war-mongering, hyper-capitalistic elitists, I proudly accept the title. I choose to identify myself as a conservative because it seems to best fit within my worldview.

First of all, let me describe my worldview.

My worldview stems from my acceptance of Christianity as the most valid and trustworthy account of how this world came to be, and, more importantly, how one can gain favor with its Creator. As a Christian, I believe that God created each individual with equal rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.

The first of these rights – LIFE – seems so self evident and universally accepted, that it may border on redundancy to state it here as a defense of conservatism. However, recent years have shown that this right should not be taken for granted. According to my style of conservatism, all life is sacred and worthy of protection from the moment of conception to the point of natural death. While some may say that we conservatives are hypocritical because we defend the unborn child in one breath and support the death penalty for the adult murderer in the next. I see no such hypocrisy, for I believe that the value we place upon a particular object should be reflected in the punishment we demand for its theft of destruction. When a person deliberately and with pre-meditation destroys the life of a human soul, that person should not be allowed back into our society. To demand less would be to diminish the value of the victim.

The issue of Abortion seems to have become the main hinge that swings the door of ideology in our nation. It is a heavy door and this particular hinge squeaks loudest during our presidential election cycles, as if one man sitting in one oval office can prevent or promote the death of even one child. My belief is that this issue will continue to divide our country until the hearts and minds of individuals are changed, regardless of who stands behind the presidential seal. As a Pro-Life Conservative, I would vote more readily for a Pro-Life Conservative candidate, however, I also realize that I should not look to the President to solve problems of the human heart. According to our Constitution, he has no authority there. That realm is the jurisdiction of the family and the church. Too often we abdicate our power to the state and even many conservatives fall into the trap of believing in the state more than in our God and our selves.

I do not limit my pro-life filter to the issue of abortion alone. I also use it to screen out those candidates who would be slow to protect the innocent lives of all our children, both born and unborn, by not zealously and jealously defending the sovereignty of this great nation. I would never give my vote to any man or woman who would cede the defense of our soil to the indifferent and ineffective forces of The United Nation. I wholeheartedly believe that our nation is the best hope for freedom on this planet and I believe the best hope for the freedom of our nation is a commitment to a strong and well-trained military.

From this right to life, I would segue to the next right, which is the right to – Liberty. As a conservative, I believe that each human heart is created with an innate drive to be free. And despite the tendency of some to classify conservatives as racist and bigoted, I firmly believe that I would have fought for the abolition of slavery as quickly as I fight now for the abolition of abortion. And I think it would have been my fight even if I had been born in 1857 instead of 1957 and even if I was raised in Athens, Georgia instead of Athens, Pennsylvania.

Liberty is a gift from the same benefactor who gave us the gift of life; therefore we should look to Him for guidance whenever we seek to infringe upon its operation. In other words, no government agency should prohibit or inhibit our choices of religion, speech or vocation.

One often overlooked or misunderstood aspect of liberty is the idea that an acknowledgement of an absolute truth leads to a fuller understanding of freedom and/or liberty. I believe that TRUTH is knowable and that knowing the TRUTH shall set you free. Let me explain. As a conservative Christian, I believe that God revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, and in that revelation, He claimed to be the TRUTH, absolutely and exclusively. By accepting that claim, I have freed myself from the bondage of uncertainty and relativism. I can now rest upon the absolutes written upon the stones on Mount Sinai as well as the principles written in the hearts of those who heard the Sermon on the Mount. In other words, the Judeo-Christian ethos that drove our founding fathers to form this ‘more perfect union’ still drives me today.

I believe that this conservative approach to the issues that face our nation today is the better hope for our nation today and for the world of tomorrow.