What Is A Conservative?

By Anonymous

A Conservative is an individual that desire to preserve or maintain his or her set of values. Whether or not being a Conservative is good or bad depends entirely upon which values you are seeking to preserve.

In the 1770's a colonist that supported the oppressive government of King George would have been classified as a Conservative. In the 1860's individuals that opposed the abolition of slavery would have been labeled conservatives.

Before the American War for Independence, it was believed that Kings and Queens ruled by divine right. This principle led to tyranny and human bondage. To accept the status quo would have been the position of a conservative. After the ratification of the Constitution, a new set of principles were established in America and now an individual that embraced the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence became a conservative. Declaring that one is a conservative without stating the principles that you wish to maintain doesn't tell anyone what you believe.

Those opposed to the principles articulated in our founding documents want to divide and confuse the people in order to control them. We need to stop identifying ourselves with political labels such as liberals and conservatives and start definng who we are by proclaiming the principles in which we believe.

I am not a liberal or a conservative. I am not a republican or a democrat. I don't lean to the right or to the left. I simply believe that we were endowed by our Creator with the right to life, liberty and property. I believe that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed and were created to secure our unalienable rights.

Today we have been taught that to rebel against tyranny and injustice is radical, but in the 1770's it was considered Patriotic. We are no longer taught that morality is doing what is right, and that blind obedience is doing what you are told.