Manifesto & Other Thoughts - Election 2008

I am a conservative and a Catholic. I have never claimed Obama is anti-American. And strangely enough I'm not a mouthpiece for Rush Limbaugh and *gasp* actually have my own thoughts as a conservative. The trend I've found in all of the debates I get into with my liberal friends is people asking me to think for myself and stop repeating what the "Right Wing Conspiracy" doles out. Well I do think for myself quite fine thank you and this is what I think ... in fact I'll remove the kids gloves I usually have on when talking about Obama and say what I REALLY think. Ecco manifesto:

I think he finds the Constitution flawed and that he does desire it to be changed. I think he wishes to use either the courts or legislation to enact reparations. I think that he finds the only way to successfully implement reparations is through socialist redistribution. I do think the man has a dangerous political ego driven by ideaology and not averse to demagoguery. I do believe that a supramajority, one-party government is terribly dangerous. I absolutely believe that Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the rest of the lot have no problem with absolute rule in the government and have stated so recently. I do think that Obama is an inheritor of the Progressive movement in American. I do believe that the Progressive movement is fundamentally socialist and during its formation and beyond clung to the ideaologies of Marx, Lenin and Mussolini, whom they adored. I do think that Obama is a culmination of a hundred years of these Progressives taking over the Democratic Party. I do think that it is fascist in nature and deed. I do fear that my liberties as a conservative Catholic in this country are in danger because it has happened before (Germany under Bismark, Europe under the heel of the Fascists etc) under the exact same circumstances in the name of hope and change. And no I will not shut up about it, because I live in America and being mao-maoed by the Left only proves my point.

But hey what the hell does the Left care? The Left has over the years proven a disdain for religion, a hatred of the Church, no problem insulting my faith flippantly and jokingly believing that Catholics were not being insulted as it was all in good fun ... because hey its the Catholic Church. We can make fun of that. It is an accepted bigotry in this country and the likes of Obama and the rest of the progressive liberals have no problem taking that "acceptable bigotry" to whatever political level they want. Because that's what happens and its what has happened in the last couple of centuries. So EXCUSE ME if I don't want to vote for the man.

The majority of my liberal friends hold a disdain for the Catholic Church, while being respectful to it when around me; now mainly that's because American popular culture holds a disdain and we're all creatures of that monster. For instance: do liberals see piling feces on a statue of St. Mary as legitimate art to be displayed in public, or do they find that its offense to Catholics warrants a more critical view of the work? Is it okay to take a blessed Eucharist and desecrate it on YouTube for the world to see in the name of free speech? Does anyone even notice the multitude of misrepresentations of the Church in movies, tv and the news whose only goal is to shed it in a disfavourable light?

Now I am very practical about my friendships when it comes to my faith, as a majority of Catholics are. I love them all very much and genuinely care for them, and so I put aside the flippant Catholic jokes and the casual acceptance of anti-Catholicism in American society. But when that seeps into politics. When real policies which will concretely infringe on myself as a Catholic are put forward, I must start to protest. Lets take for example gay marriage. Why am I against it? Because legally it has a result which most people do not see nor probably care about. If the gay marriage movement was about civil rights, than the achievement of civil unions, something which I do support, would fulfill that goal. But for the movement its not enough. It must be marriage? Why? Its not for the sake of civil rights. So what is it really about? Because when marriage from a civil government standpoint becomes only a civil union, it undermines the legitimacy of religious marriages. Marriage has always been under the umbrella of religion and when one chooses to be married by a priest, rabbi or what have you, the state automatically recognizes that marriage as a civil union pursuant with a license. However, when you redefine marriage as ONLY a civil union legally and place it under the umbrella of the state, there is no longer an automatic recognition of religious marriage. And that is actually a purposeful goal of the gay marriage movement. Believe me I know.

Discovering that is what turned me against the movement when I lived in Massachusetts. And that applies to any political movement, such as progressive liberals, who wish to move issues of social justice and welfare as something the government PROVIDES rather than something it is designed to PROMOTE. It occurred in education. Our education system in America was partially founded on the principles of the Catholic school system, because Catholics in America had a real desire to make sure their children receive a proper and fruitful education. As the government took over education more and more, it subsequently devalued and undermined the Catholic education system. As another historical example, Bismark did the same thing in Germany in the 19th century with the Kanzelparagraf, what we in America know better as the Kulturkampf, or "culture war". Reform the government so that those institutions which were once maintained by churches are made political and secular and brought under the wing of the government ... thus undermining the influence of the churches in a move to eliminate them altogether. My older sister is a Franciscan nun whose order fled Germany to America in the 19th century because of those "progressive governmental reforms" which were brought about by the Deutsche Fortschrittspartei (Progressive Liberals).

Throughout the 20th century, governments have consistently undermined the religious institutions that provided for the people in an effort to ultimately eliminate religion. Communism, Fascism, Socialism, Progressive Liberalism, etc have all been successful in destroying religious life. So when I see a presidential candidate who proclaims himself as a Progressive, who is the inheritor of a branch of the Democratic Party which embraces the socialist policies of FDR and LBJ and wants to expand those entitlements. And I add to that an American culture and environment which has grown increasingly anti-Catholic ... I am more than concerned. And those concerns are legitimate and should not be ignored. Those who are not Catholic or deeply religious in America see these Progressive movements as something to herald and support. Because the majority of them do not see the implications of those policies for people of faith. And a minority are aware of its implications and actively work towards it.

That, above and beyond all the petty political attacks, the smear tactics, the accusations, the little details ... THAT is the reason why I cannot vote for Obama. And why I fear a supramajority of not Democrats (because I believe its not a fault of the Democratic Party), but a supramajority of progressive liberalism whose goals I have stated above.

The response I have received to this from liberal friends is, "Well that's okay. We understand that if you wish to place your religion and faith as a priority above government, that that is legitimate and a good reason not to vote for Obama." And they are right. It is the one thing that those of faith have comfort in; theknowledge that in the end, the eternal reality of our souls and the world is a place where none of the vagaries of this world and its increasing hostility towards our faith can touch. But also important to understand is that we participate in the political discussion because we are still deeply American and believe something fundamental about America: that it was founded primarily because of a need for religious freedom (not freedom from religion). And we take that liberty very seriously.

What we fear in this election is a government that will not recognize that a majority of its citizens are people of faith, and even if we weren't, that our religious liberty is not something the government or even the majority has the power to take away from us, because it is inherently ours. Yet we see it happening every day. Something very real is going on in America. Right now. And I honestly don't believe a lot of Americans, both those who have faith and those who don't, are really seeing it. It is an extension of what is happening in Europe and elsewhere: the methodical but purposeful destruction of religion.