Gulo, i don't see this as 'sidetracked' at all, imho it is the core question with the Day Alliance party du jour - To what degree is their vision of liberty consistent or inconsistent? Will that 'responsibility and respect' extend to private life, will the respect extend to minorities [we are all minorities in some way or another], will they butt out of the bedrooms as they have promised to butt out of the paycheques?, To what extent will some of the religiously framed codeterms translate into Diktat? - these are central questions.
I hope you're right, that the choice i presented there is not the choice facing us, sounds like you too would like to keep it that way ... 'constant vigilance is the price of freedom', they say, lol ... 'by their works ye shall know them' is another, and we may see those works.
We're agreed on many points of your post, but not on this -
"Day's social conservatism ... is simply something the media sees as a personal weakness to be exploited. Or rather, an issue by which voters' gullibility can be exploited."
Undoubtedly true that elements of the media and other parties view it as Day's weakness, and it's very clear why, it plainly is his weakness ... but to dismiss the concern because it is pointed out by opponents makes no sense imho, without his statements as ammunition they would have no firepower, and there exist at least you and i among Alliance supporters who will remain vigilant on the matter ... a whole lot of people voted for Keith Martin in the leadership, and a whole lot more would have if he'd been perceived as more electable ... i almost joined Alliance then, sort of wish i had, might yet, i would have voted my conscience which said loud and clear Keith Martin ... who btw goes to church, but who also as a doctor took a stand in favour of a form of two-tier healthcare, of which i am suspicious, but at least he wasn't mealy-mouthed about it so he can't be accused of agendas hidden behind codewords, like so many others ... he did stand against state control of the reproductive powers of women, for which i applaud both his judgment and his courage.
Day is not the only one who "was brought up in a deeply religious family", there are many of us, i was myself, just had the opposite reaction, i suppose - the whole experience put me off any manmade packaged-up belief structure which could not defend itself on available evidence using logic [i mean, c'mon, presenting some specific myth of creationism as education?? in a province where you'd have to explain how oil got made in six thousand years?? - that would be risible if he weren't running for PM], especially those belief structures looking for power over me. |
