Confessions of a Reformed NeoCon

I used to be a neocon, you know a “new conservative” , from the Ronald Reagan era. I was all-in with whatever my country was doing to protect others from the dastardly deeds of their own governments. And war? Don’t mess with Uncle Sam or we’ll kick your ass. As for those that would keep trying the patience of our greatest ally in the middle east, I said, Just turn the desert into glass. Yep. Nuke ‘em. And I was a grown man saying these things, one that had spent nearly 2 years in a combat zone, coming under fire on occasion, utterly uncaring as to what happened to other people, that we invaded for no reason (Iraq). I had no feeling for the locals while in country and even less, if that’s possible, for all Arabic peoples, and later Persians. Whether Palestinian, or Iraqi, or Egyptian, I clearly held a disdain for entire peoples that had never threatened me.

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Why Can’t a Conservative be an Atheist?

I saw something on Twitter recently that caught my attention. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, just that seeing it again is a little surprising. It makes me wonder about atheists in general who are supposed to be smart people. Not any smarter than the general population, and in this case, maybe less smart than those same people inn the general population. What does someone’s politics have to do with being an atheist? I’ve written about this in the distant past, but seeing it brought up again just made me want to shout that outloud.

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No God, No Rights, Right?

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So I just heard -for the umpteenth time – that our rights, at least as Americans, come from God. I’ve always found anyone stating anything similar to that as being curious and have wondered – aloud in many cases – where that thought comes from. It certainly doesn’t come from our Constitution, which doesn’t mention God, or Creator, or Deity, or whatever other appellation anyone wants to use, ever. So how is it that some God gives us the rights that we so cherish? It comes from the same people that believe, and often say, that being a conservative means, by default, a belief in God.

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Is It Conservatism or Not?

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I was thinking a bit about what to write and of course, more than one topic came to mind, but over the past few hours, I decided on this one topic that I find curious. Actually, I find it funny, and you’ll see why in a moment, but it also sort of amazed me to discover what I did. In the last couple of weeks, two people I have followed, and followed me on Twitter have both reference me as an atheist that is conservative. Consider that for a second. Do you get it yet? Neither of these two can name any other atheist they know that is conservative.

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What Do You Actually Believe?

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Recently, I came across one of those online surveys (I’m not sure what else to call it) that after answering a series of questions, places the respondent into a certain political category. We’ve all seen these before, where at the end the person, based on their answers, are rated as liberal or conservative, authoritarian or libertarian.  the questions themselves are innocuous enough, very straightforward, as to what the person thinks/believes in several different areas. I was intrigued, as a conservative, where I would place on their scale.

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