Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by James Yount on August 11, 2012 at 9:25am

I think the problem is that being conservative implies that you buy the whole manifesto.  My experience is that conservative atheists may accept some of the social conservative values but they usually only consider themselves conservative on the fiscal and small government platforms.  Being a conservative implies, for instance, that you are against gay marriage.  Long story short, we are associated with the Christian Right.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on August 11, 2012 at 10:11am

I agree with James. It's a misperception that you can be conservative on some issues but liberal on some social issues. Well,l I am glad the group is here. There is a Conservative Atheists group on the site as well Micah.

Permalink Reply by A. Noni Moose on October 17, 2012 at 10:36am

Very true statements. I always describe myself as "fiscally conservative, socially tolerant". I believe in less government and less taxes. Fiscal responsibility is my main voting goal. However, like you I do not believe in government trying to mandate their "morals" on others. I hate that I am associated with Christian Conservatives when I am not one..but, if I am speaking from Atheist point of view I am assumed to be a liberal..also NOT that. I really wish there was a viable 3rd party that represented my thoughts, but I guess there is never a 100% party that supports everything one person believes in..you just gotta decide which issues are more important to your life and try to get the best candidate for that microcasm of thought.

Permalink Reply by jay H on August 12, 2012 at 7:24pm

There are a number of us who feel that government manipulation of our private lives is no better than religious control. There does appear, however to be a substantial degree of government-love in the the atheist community, just as the religious try to use coercion to enforce their ideals, many of the liberal crowd are more than happy to use the force of government to control peoples' actions, even peoples' beliefs.

There are quite a few good basically secular libertarian websites out there but here are a couple of explicitly secular ones

An interesting atheist Canadian libertarian (no kidding)

http://planetatheism.com/author/allen-small/

also a conservative explicitly secular site:

www.secularright.org

Couple of other interesting sites

www.fff.org (libertarian; strongly pro freedom)

www.coyoteblog.com (laid back, entertaining, pro market, including anti corporate welfare)

and if you think of yourself as a conservative:

http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

Permalink Reply by jay H on August 12, 2012 at 7:54pm

Oh, I forgot this article

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/us/19beliefs.html

Permalink Reply by Marcelo A. on September 11, 2012 at 12:35am

I hear you, we are a minority within a minority. I am attempting to change that though. Check out my website.

http://moralalliance.ning.com/page/moralityplatform-1

Permalink Reply by bob bookouri on October 17, 2012 at 1:35pm

you bet, even atheists and freethinkers are subject to prejudices.

and theres the problem of the labels conservative and liberal

i dont think modern conservatives neo cons or whatever are the least bit "conservative" and certainly not libertarian in any sense, and liberals seem to be pretty dedicated to "law and order" coercive measures to force people to behave in the way THEY think they should, not particularly "liberal" or libertarian either

liberals and conservatives both seem to me to be dedicated to using the coercive power of govt to mold society into their particular chosen brand of "correct" thought and behavior

i think that may be why libertarians are not always welcome.

people " brand" themselves with one label or the other and then they are stuck rooting for their team... my team right or wrong and the other team is ALWAYS wrong

Permalink Reply by Dorothy Hanna on May 18, 2014 at 6:34pm

Glad to have found this particular group. I agree it is difficult to be a Libertarian (as well as a bit of an Objectivist) in some ways, and found Atheist Nexus when I typed in Conservative Constitutionalist Atheists, in the online search.  Looking over the many Atheist groups, there are so many seemingly leaning towards a system other than that of a Constitutional Republic (let's just put it that way).

Permalink Reply by paul babcock on May 31, 2014 at 5:22am

Yeah. It is easy to bemoan out small numbers and too frequent criticism. I prefer to simply be grateful that this group exists and that I found it.

Maybe it is a judgment call. But I have always believed that t evils of state are greater even than those of faith. Religion is based on fraud. So by itself religion only directly screws those willing to be screwed.Otoh t state is based on force. And it can screw anyone w/in range of their guns regardless.

Why are we denigrated to t extent we are? I think this is not t best place to ask that question. That society probably runs best w a minimum of force or fruad seems obvious to me and I imagine most people in this group. You would have to ask t statists why they think they are so justfied in critisising those of us who oppose statist force.

Anyway, I am glad I found this. Idt it was here just a couple years ago was it?

Permalink Reply by Luara on May 31, 2014 at 9:11am

Religion is based on fraud. So by itself religion only directly screws those willing to be screwed.

Fraud doesn't screw only those willing to be screwed. 

Otoh t state is based on force. And it can screw anyone w/in range of their guns regardless.

That's why church-state separation is crucial.

Permalink Reply by Luara on May 31, 2014 at 7:51am

The Republicans have a confusing combination of positions.  There doesn't seem to be any logic to it.

There's no reason why limited government, personal responsibility, personal freedom and free market competition, which are often excellent ideas, should have any relation to gay marriage or abortion or climate denialism or putting lots of people in prison or the death penalty or criminalizing recreational drug use. 

I really appreciate some aspects of conservatism and find others to be grossly oppressive.  I wish there was a Party of Good Sense :)  Are the Libertarians that party? 

There's certainly a role for government, and I'm not sure to what extreme libertarians take their limited-government position. I guess there are all flavors of libertarianism.  I do believe in regulated capitalism, as in prohibiting false advertising and restricting advertising of dangerous substances - for example, the restrictions on cigarette advertising in the USA are an excellent idea. 

I find the liberal statists disturbing in how casually they expect people to accept a lot of government interference in their lives.  As in Obamacare.  If Obamacare is hurting you - and it hurt me - the liberal statists in favor of it have little sympathy.  Other people who are hurt by Obamacare have experienced the same.  

However, there are many people in the USA who do care about personal freedom and choice.