Remember, Lincoln Was Raised In A Log Cabin

No, I am not a professional journalist. No, I am not an expert in titles or headlines. However, if you clicked that link up there, I must have managed to get your attention. Now, let's see if I can keep it.

To borrow a phrase from our wonderful socialist propagandists, "Everybody knows", I am going to relate a well-known fact. It is a known fact that Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican President, was raised in a log cabin. Many of us, as kids, played with "Lincoln Logs". They are a testament to how well known that fact is.

When Lincoln and the early Republicans began their campaigns for a voice in politics, one of the main platforms they stood upon was abolitionism. Abolitionism was founded upon the very core tenets of the Declaration of Independence. It was founded upon the ideals set forth by John Locke and held dear by the authors and framers of the US Constitution. Those ideals remained present in the Federalist Papers upon which the Constitution was constructed. Those self-evident truths that all people were created equal. All people were born with certain rights that tyrants attempt to convince people to willingly give away, or take away by force.

The inalienable rights each person is born with are Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness. The philosophy of John Locke explains these in more depth. By life it means your life is yours and belongs to no other. You time is yours. If you use it in the employ of another, you are owed just compensation for that labor, time, effort. Liberty means your thoughts, time, decisions, are your own as are the rewards and consequences. You have the rights and responsibilities for what you do. You have Free Will. "Pursuit of Happiness" is interchangeable with "property". The phrasing in the Declaration was chosen so that it included intellectual property and those things created, earned, accrued, owned and would not be mistaken for solely real estate. The Pursuit means you have a right to work, a right to earn, a right to succeed or fail on your own merits and decisions. It means you have the right to own the rewards or consequences. It means you cannot expect others to suffer from your consequences. It means the cost of your life is your own and you cannot expect another to pick up your bills.

None of this should be new information.

How this applied to the Abolitionist movement is simple. Go back and reread that paragraph above. It's O.K., I'll wait. Caught up? Let's revisit that ideal:  ALL people are endowed with those rights. Abolitionists could not reconcile slavery to these basic, founding principles. These days, most Americans cannot. Conservatives are among those who hold those truths most valuable. Those inalienable rights are sacred.

Today, that abolitionist ideal is alive and well. Extreme racism and racial hatred makes most of our blood boil. Well, now it is time to take those ideals a step further.

The First Amendment insures that, with some exceptions such as threats, intentional misrepresentation, and hate speech, we have the freedom to speak up and speak out. It guarantees the press can do so as well without repercussion from the government if they are telling the truth or posing provoking questions. It also states that the government cannot establish a state religion, to include the religion of atheism. By definition, atheism IS a religion. It also enables the rights to protest, peacefully, and to circulate petitions.

Granted, the founders, by and large, were Christian. Many were Deists or Unitarians. However, the morals that Jews and Christians held dear, those teachings, those philosophies and ethics were of high importance to the founders. I have studied many religions. The vast majority of them hold to the core values. The names and personalities of various deities may differ. Even many atheists believe certain things are inherently wrong, such as murder, theft, kidnapping, slavery, and denying a person the rights of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness.

So, if there is not established state religion, what is so "wrong" with homosexuality? What is so "wrong" with gay marriage? Nothing. If your religious views oppose it, that is your right. However, what if a homosexual person is a member of a religion that allows it? Do they not have a right to their religion? So, if  he religion allows for gay marriage, should they not be allowed their rights to practice their religion and participate in those rituals? Yes, they should be. it is their right.

There is a group of conservatives labeled "Log Cabin Conservatives" that support that ideal. Should gay people be allowed special protections, rights, and freedoms under the law? No. Should they be restricted from the same rights and freedoms as the straight people? No. They are individuals with individual rights.

I recently was told I could not be a conservative if I supported gay conservatives. The basic tenet this untruth stood upon is that there is "no such thing as a gay conservative". That is a ludicrous as saying there is no such thing as a "Black Republican". Well, the first four black representatives in US Congress were Republicans and conservatives. Martin Luther King Jr. was  a black Republican and conservative. So that theory is quickly debunked. It is like saying there is no such thing as a Jewish Conservative. I can introduce you to several. It is like saying there is no such thing as a Druid Conservative.

Yes, there are gay conservatives. The Republican Party does a good job of turning them away through religious zealotry. I have a gay uncle. He is mostly a libertarian. If you spoke to him about most issues, you would find him very conservative. Where he is accused of not being so is on the concept of gay individuals being allowed their individual rights just like every straight citizen enjoys, to include the right to get married. There are several others out there. I associate with them. I enjoy their views. I enjoy their company. They are conservatives.

It is untrue when somebody accuses me of  homophobia. It's is obvious that you do not know me, at all, when you make such an accusation. It is hilarious when I'm accused of being a homosexual. It isn't an insult. It is false. However, I have great friends and family, some of whom are gay. I adore them as much as I adore my straight friends. I also have many friends who are bisexual. So what? It is their life, their liberty, and they have their right to their pursuit of happiness. It is just like the prejudiced belief that one man had the right to the life of another, through slavery. How does a gay couple hurt you? They don't. Leave them alone.


In reality, lumping gay people into a group and using stereotypes is a very left-wing mentality. Now, I will hear some of you argue about some members of the left supporting "gay rights". There are no "gay rights". There are individual rights that gay people deserve the same access to as everybody else. Those include the right to marry within their religious beliefs if those beliefs so allow.

The left supports "gay rights" just as they support all other "collective rights" of sub-groups because they seek to undermine the very basic tenets and founding principles our founders held so dear. By segregating individuals into little groups, unions, and tribes, they seek to pit us against each other. THAT is why they support the special "rights" of some lumped-together demographic. So tell me, are they each an individual or collectively a herd? I am me. What is mine is mine. What I do I do. What I earn I earn. My love is my love to give to those I choose. Gay "people" are not a group. A gay person IS a PERSON, and INDIVIDUAL.

If you doubt the true hatred of the left you do not have to look any farther than "Reverend" Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. They hate homosexuals, as a group. They do no see individuals. They see a group of sub-humans. It is just how many slave owners viewed their slaves, as objects, not people. They protest military funerals because of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy the military adopted. They became even more heated because the military phased into homosexuals being allowed to openly join the military. So they hate our military members. Now for your daily shocker (maybe). "Reverend" Phelps is a self-admitted left-wing activist. He is a registered Democrat. He has even run for several offices as a member of the Democratic Party. He is a tyrant who believes that individuals should not have their rights, as endowed by our creator. He is also a racist, by the way.

Not infringing upon their individual and inalienable rights is a conservative trait. Not infringing upon their religious practice, per the First Amendment, is also a conservative trait. So, my gay friends, think about that on your way to the polls. Democrats do NOT care about your individual rights, as human beings.

To the one who so wrongfully posited that there are no gay conservatives, I challenge you to look in the mirror and justify your own conservatism for violating those very core beliefs with that statement. Perhaps this is the area in which your conservatism fails you?

To the Log Cabin Conservatives out there:  Thank you for living the spirit of Lincoln. Keep up your good work. Keep the faith. E Pluribus Unum.