I’m a libertarian republican woman. As a woman, I’m also very concerned with a growing government that is choosing to employ policies that invade my personal and private right to happiness especially with regard to my physical body. I am growing very impatient that political parties are so heavily influenced by religion. Like cpagan’s reply above, “I believe in free markets, small governement, a strong military and I am very patriotic.” However, although I don’t agree with the blog in it’s entirety, I do agree with the comment: “The base laps it up because the base loves it. The base wants to believe it. And there are enough people out there ignorant of their own Bible, ignorant of history, to actually believe this stuff.” Honestly, there are a bunch of ignorant sheep people that can not independently separate religion from politics. This is the serious issue of the problem.

This is why I believe we need to go back to the US Constitution. If you study the Constitution, we would find a myriad of unconstitutional lawmaking and governance and a long term trend of political abuse in this country. If we went back to strictly follow the US Constitution, we would not have religion or religious groups misabusing policy to indoctrine their “moral” beliefs on others. I don’t believe Americans exist to police other countries (especially those that are indoctrinated heavily in religious beliefs). America is expected to spread democracy to countries that ask for help, but I don’t believe that’s our purpose with our world as it is and we should instill changes in our foreign policy to reflect this. Charity begins at home first. That means taking care of our citizens and ensuring a minimal government, less taxes, and explicitly the freedom to PURSUIT of happiness… and not the “guarantee” of this.

Personally, my stand is that religion has no place with politics, although I was raised with a strong Catholic upbringing. Our laws and government are supposed to afford an equal freedom to all people despite race or creed. We are a “melting pot” society. This is why our “American” justice system is blind, and hence the symbolic image of the statuesque figure of the lady blindfolded carrying the balance scales depicting this ideology.

Politics and law are not intended to teach people morality or life lessons, though it would be nice. But rather, in America, politics is intended to set the legal boundaries between the rights of the individual, groups, business and government. The moral and life lessons are encouraged to be learned through personal choice of religion, family upbringing, and just basic humanitarian efforts — specifically with each other on the people level and not on a legal environment. There should be no expectation of learning these moral values through law or politics just because it was printed in some legal book somewhere. It’s not how people are intended to learn moral lessons but mostly through free will and what they choose to create with their experience here in this world. This is what many voting constituents fail to see.

I support a libertarian party platform, however, I side more with the Republican voters than the Democrats. I would rather choose to endorse an incumbent that strips religion from politics and base policies on the strict interpretation of the US Constitution, with minimal government overhead and less taxes, with the Libertarian party platform. We have a stronger libertarian base in the Republican side through incumbent, Ron Paul. His record is consistent and he has a strict understanding of independent rights and freedoms and a strong supporter of the US Constitution. His supporters are looking to break the right -left struggle by supporting a middle ground charter. The media and GOP knows this so they are trying to marginalize Ron Paul and his growing group of supporters.

It would be a great country if people understood and appreciated our free will and individual rights to pursue happiness, but there’s such a resounding primitive understanding of humanity and if only we could get people to have a more mature level of understanding of humanity… the world hasn’t evolved as much as we’d like it to be.

Nonviolence as a tactic for change has some significant successes (the Civil Rights movement here in the United States is one example). Further, so many of the criticisms I read of pacifism just seem to miss the mark. In particular, I have come to understand that a commitment to pacifism, especially in the face of violence, is a mark of strength and principle, not of weakness.

I am not suggesting that everyone who criticizes pacifism sees it as weakness of a sort, but a lot of those who dismiss pacifists as hopelessly naive often imply this.

I must also consider this: no one who ever did me harm was a pacifist. All who have ever done me harm believed in force or fraud.

I still believe there is a type of relentless malevolent evil who will only ever respond to force. But I wonder what percentage of the misdeeds in the world fall under that category, vs. what percentage could be defeated by showing people a better, more peaceful way.

I’m not a pagan or an anarchist in the sense it is meant here – not even sure how I wound up on this page (probably reddit; it’s always reddit), but one thing I am positive about is I have no quarrel or conflict with pagan pacifist anarchists, unless they try to burn me in a giant wicker apparatus to ensure better apple yields.

At which time I will have a cross word with them, let me tell you what.

Now, this does not mean that I dislike others based on their ideas or stances on things. I respect the right of someone to make up their own mind about things. The problem I have run into(and in large part the reason I am writing this) is that Pagans in general seem to be almost as bad as the social conservatives they love to hate. As a conservative Pagan, I’m in a strange place. On one hand their are certain other conservatives who would hate or look down on me because of my faith. On the other hand, their are tons of Pagans who judge me because of my politics. I am tired of being (indirectly) told how stupid I am by other Pagans.

I hear all the time that Pagans as a whole are an open, tolerant group but in the same breath there will be a nasty joke or horrible slam on conservatives. There seems to be a great number of Pagans out there who think that to be a Pagan you have to be a liberal. Everywhere I see the attitude of “you are not a real Pagan because you don’t support *insert policy here* or, “I can’t believe a true Pagan would vote for *insert here*”. Countless Pagan blogs carry on about not mixing politics and faith, then mix them. They just don’t notice because when they say that they only mean “lets not mix faith with any political ideas unless they are liberal.

I’m not trying to insult anyone or any political ideas, I’m just saying that unless we admit that Pagans will have varied ideas and values we will never really be tolerant. Please just hear me out.

President Bush has shown that the stance of the executive branch is hardly irrelevant.

I disagree with your analysis of the Democratic Party’s position on judges – the same could be argued of the Republican Party when it’s legislation they have passed or support.