Why? Why do we
run from a fight? On pain of irritating those who
hear me doing it often, I quote from the Mel Gibson’s
timeless classic, Braveheart, the heart wrenching, yet
inspiring epic based on the life of Sir William
Wallace. In the movie, Wallace and several other
Scottish nobles have amassed an army that stands
opposite the hoards of Edward Longshanks, the King of
England who is set upon annihilating Wallace and
forcing the people of Scotland back into submission.
As the military leaders of the respective sides ride
towards the center of the field to discuss possible
terms, Wallace rides off after them in a fury. When
one of his lieutenants calls after him, asking where
he’s going, he turns back, and with an expression of
childish mischief yet deadly purpose, he replies, “To
pick a fight.”
Wallace must
have prophetically heard a phrase uttered some
centuries down the road by one Mr. Edmund Burke. He
said, “All it takes for the triumph of evil is for
good men to do nothing.” Die he might, but Wallace
would never have been accused of doing nothing.
Why then do we, as conservatives, rather than
welcoming the opportunity to defend our opinions with
a fiery passion, we continue to run from fights?
Time, and time again, we have had opportunities to
win political, policy, and philosophical battles, and
time and time again, we turn and run the opposite
direction. I think those of us who have called
ourselves traditionalists, Christians, conservatives,
Republicans…whatever label you put on yourself, you
know who you are. And what I’m about to say applies
to most, if not all of you. For years, decades,
really, we have been those who did nothing to enforce
our claim to political ground. Absolutely nothing.
So, when Hillary becomes POTUS, we deserve it. Had
Miers been confirmed, we deserved it. If they take
away our right to take our children to Mass, Sunday
School, or Synagogue, we deserve it. If they take
away our national anthem because it glorifies the
Biblical ideals of freedom and liberty too much, we
deserve it. In similar fashion, American
conservatives stood idly by as our courts paved a
highway for the murder of untold millions of unborn
children. We stood idly by as they removed prayer
from our schools, took the Ten Commandments out of the
courthouses. We said nothing when they tried to take
the pledge of allegiance out of our schools. We stand
idly by as they, even now, try to increase their holds
on our lives by restricting the practice of the
principles upon which this country was built and by
which it is sustained.
Two problems with that. Two really simple, logical
problems. First, we have the “firepower” to win. We
have majority in Congress. We have a President with
three more years. We have a Supreme Court ripe for
the picking. We hold a majority of the governorships
around the nation. We have a massive grassroots
organization that outnumbers the Democrats by over a
million. Second, we’re right. It’s that simple. We,
as conservatives, hold the value systems, beliefs, and
the platform that most accurately reflects correct
moral principles, the beliefs held by the founders of
this country, and the standards that are truest to
truth, justice, equity, life, liberty, and the pursuit
of the happiness that so many of us so strongly
desire.
That, my friends, is why my jaw dropped in absolute
amazement when I heard about Harriet Mier’s
withdrawal. I was unabashedly, unequivocally against
her nomination. I do not think that someone who’s
qualifications are relatively unknown, and who’s
convictions and philosophy are in question, should
even be considered. Hence, as you may assume, my
surprise when I learned that Miers was to withdraw her
name, and another, more conservative nominee to be
offered. My question is this: why did we have to go
through the pain of a failed nominee to get to this
point? More importantly, why weren’t conservatives
heard and heeded during the initial selection, instead
of in the withdrawal consideration? Put simply, it is
our job to influence the influencers, and we have not
been influencing.
In short, I think conservatives need to take just a
moment and review the events of the last month. We
need to cognitively take stock, and realize something.
I’ve said this for years, yet few seem to comprehend
what it really means. If Christian conservatives will
unite, band together, and exert the political and
government influence that is duly theirs, our citizen
lobby would outnumber the liberals, the
pro-abortionists, the environmentalists, the
sodomites, and the anarchists…put together.
In the alternative, I’ll reference the chilling words
of the late Reverend Martin Niemoeller. “In Germany,
the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't
speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came
for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I
didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak
up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one left to speak for
me.”
Past Columns:
I'm not a conservative,
The
Southern Vent
Why
Do We Run?