Weyrich has essentially admitted there is no moral majority and speculated that the culture war has been lost to the liberals. So I hardly think he yet imagines himself backed by any "Silent Majority." He seems to think coalition politics have failed social conservatives (SCs), and I think he is correct. We are not all Americans, as there is no such thing as an "American." We do not all want the same things, and there is no dependable unifying moral or even legal ideal or consensus capable of overriding our differences to unite us into any sort of brotherhood. Indeed our differences are so fundamental as to make very many of us true enemies. In years past we may have been able to perpetuate the coalition myth by referring to law, but post Clinton we find it impossible to do even this rationally. It was no accident that Weyrich's comments came during Bill Clinton's tenure.
I think Weyrich also detects that the GOP, while not generally as much on the offensive against SCs as the Democrats, is insufficiently committed to SC values to serve as an ally. The GOP will not fully support SC values and SCs cannot fully support their values because of the GOP coalition. The net effect is that SC values do not receive the fullest attention from anyone. This is one reason why SCs cannot remain within the GOP. Their doing so will automatically mean being forced to suppress their own philosophy.
That Americans do not heavily support SC values is no justification for SCs to halfheartedly support their principles, especially to maintain a feeble coalition wherein they must hold their noses to embrace "moderates" whose principles are anathema to what SCs know to be innately Good. SCs should simply support their principles themselves, not because of mere educational value or to win elections, but to win hearts and minds and because they know them to be right. Even if it should allow the Democrats to rule for the next 200 years, SCs should not budge one millimetre when it comes to their principled beliefs. They may budge elsewhere, but they must not budge on core principle because these principles are right, referencing the very basis of our existence. Killing babies will always be murder, and homosexuality will always be an abomination against God and man. Both these atrocities philosophically imply self-annihilation, even if the GOP and everyone else wants to shut their eyes to the facts.
Another reason why SCs should no longer remain in the GOP is because the GOP is political welfare for SCs. As long as SCs remain within it, they will never get serious about starting and supporting their own institutions. There is a sad tendency in many humans to think someone will do for them what they should do for themselves. |
