Government is a religion for Americans on the political left wing — they see it as the source of nearly all things. Having never been properly educated about the intent of our Founding Fathers, they see an ever-expanding taxpayer-funded federal leviathan as a positive. For these lefties, participation in politics is a crucial part of their “faith” in government.
The same can’t be said about political conservatives. Those on the right typically don’t like political activism. They’ve got lives, jobs, families, businesses — and since government isn’t their religion — they mostly keep that arena at arms length except on election day. They’re good at following the news, dialing up worthwhile commentary on the Internet, listening to talk radio, and commiserating with fellow conservatives. They’re not so good at getting their hands dirty in what they see as the completely nasty business of politics.
That has to change. Here is why: most of our fellow citizens breathe liberalism.
Progressivism is preached from kindergarten to the graduate schools. The dominant media tilts ever-leftward. And yes, that includes the Fox News Channel, which increasingly raises the surrender flag on issues that undergird the moral foundations on which everything else is built. Popular culture is embarrassingly dominated by the moral view of individuals that mentally never seemed to graduate from junior high school.
On top of that — there is an aggressive and well-funded legion of non profit organizations that are not confused about the importance of public opinion. There are also many militant labor unions that never hesitate to use their members’ dues to fund the campaigns of political radicals and buy airtime to bring their message to the attention of voters.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of conservatives wait for someone else to do the political work. Too few conservatives are actively involved in recruiting good candidates for public office, funding and volunteering for those campaigns, and helping all year long in taking a limited government pro-U.S. Constitution message to their family, friends and neighbors.
Few conservatives think the Republican majorities in Congress will do enough. Fear and trepidation resides in the hearts of many conservatives about the upcoming GOP presidential primary. Having confidence that Republicans will nominate the right person is, at this point, the triumph of hope over experience.
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