The Atheist Conservative

Bleh.

Actually there are quite a few Conservative atheists, they just pose as Libertarians. But most of them seem to confuse those who wish to categorize them by having progressive social values.

Double bleh.

A quote from a post about Ann Coulter on the site:

Sometimes her jibes seem exaggerated but are essentially true: ‘Environmentalists want mass infanticide, zero population growth, reduced standards of living, and vegetarianism. The core of environmentalism is that they hate mankind’. Or, ‘the Left’s most dangerous religious belief is their adoration of violent criminals.’

Essentially true??? I guess you can be an atheist but still choose to ignore reality.

I live in Colorado.

I guess the only conservative atheist I know of is Ayn Rand. I have never actually met one truly conservative atheist, but I do find the ultra-extreme conservative economic ideas of the libertarians to be completely distasteful and illogical, not to mention totally selfish. I can’t see any difference between the libertarian and conservatives policy outlines regarding laizzes faire economics (reframed in the 80s to “free-market economy”, triple bleh).

people often have the stereotype that all prolifers are relgious too, but there is a growing group of non religious ones: http://www.godlessprolifers.org

ugh. All three of you? Irrational? I’ll take it all in stride and hope that you’re just trying to be funny. Not all atheists are leftist, and as I’ve said before I think not all of the new fashionable atheists are actually all that atheist but rather anti-republicans. Mr Friendly, You seem to bristle when you see somebody use the old cliche of ‘no atheists in foxholes’ so I’m a bit surprised to see you take this jab, but whatever.

As a lifelong atheist and having spent time in actual foxholes I am much closer to the conservative philosophy than the liberal ideology. I agree with writerdd above that those of us on the conservative side will claim libertarian status when we want to distance ourselves from the unpopular aspects of conservatism as currently practiced (or not practiced). But whatever your personal political philosophy, I go to atheist blogs to read about atheist issues. Are there any blogs that are able to tread that line and stay on topic? I’d like to find one.

@LEE:

Should government intervene in such moral issues?

I don’t care about others’ sex lives and Republicans (my party) waste too much time appealing to these hot-button issues while spending like there’s no tomorrow and rushing into fool-hardy wars without sufficient planning. I even think a person has the “right” to end their own life if they so choose. In fact, do what you want as long as it doesn’t harm others. And, for me, that includes humans at the embryonic stage of development. I really would like to say that the gov. should but-out of this one, too. (Believe me, I HATE government interference.) But, that would be tantamount to my saying it’s OK to kill a certain subset of humans – I can’t say that with a clear conscience. I’ve heard many arguments about how embryos are not really human and they all ring hollow to me.
But, look at all the stuff I’m “liberal” about. What does that make me? Does one issue make me a social conservative? I am definitely an economic conservative, but not to the extreme.

You know? if we evolved to lay eggs, this would be a non-issue.

The totality of American politics is a mess right now, but here is how I sum up the conservative philosophy: less government and less government interference. It’s true, the Republicans were typically the conservative party however the ones in control now are no longer conservative. Today way have a choice between the democrats (profess personal freedoms and rally for economic restrictions), and republicans (profess economic freedoms and rally for personal restrictions). Both parties actually want to legislate moral issues, they just differ in what they consider moral.

The only place for true conservatives to go now is toward the libertarians, but they are unelectable for the time being. Their hardcore members that advocate no government regulation of anything are silly of course, but so are the hardcore democrats (socialists) and the current hardcore republicans (theocrats).

I’m not letting conservativism back away from the Republicans on this one. George W Bush gave conservatives everything they’ve ever wanted since at least Reagan, and now that conservatism has shown itself a bungling failure, they want to distance themselves from their mess. Not gonna happen.

But I guess bungling failure is what you should expect when you put people who don’t believe that government can work in charge of making the government work.

EDIT: The ‘less government’ trope is trotted out. Oy. Look, I want ‘less government’, too, but I’m realistic enough to know that if I also want the citizenry to be safe, healthy, and educated, some government regulation is necessary. Protecting the public from cheats, scams, and snake oil is just one of the many things that cost much less in dollars and peson-hours for government to do than if everyone were fending for themselves.

And don’t get me started on how much conservatives despise the free market if it even thinks of cutting into their profit.

Conservative atheist can be either fiscally conservative or socially conservative, or both. I describe myself as fiscally conservative and socially moderate, which would probably make me a libertarian. I am totally for capital punishment, gun ownership, and gay marriage. Abortions at very early stage are OK; however as a fetus becomes more human-like, abortions must be restricted, that’s why I support partial birth abortion ban. Racial preferences (aka affirmative action) must be mercilessly eliminated. Government spendings on everything must be reduced. Like many atheists I also oppose the war in Iraq, but I would never join ‘peace rallies’ because they are openly anti-capitalist, anti-American, anti-Israel, and sometimes even pro-terrorist. I despise leftism just as much as I hate religious right. It seems that leftism is very popular among atheists, which pisses me off a lot. So, let’s stay rational and free-thinking, but let’s not plunge into socialist paranoia of political left.

I’m a far-right-wing conservative (emphatically NOT libertarian) agnostico-atheist. I sometimes call myself a “no-church Tory.”

I’m pro-life, because I believe in the dignity and worth of all human beings, not just the ones we choose to recognize as “persons.”

I’m also anti-gay-marriage on prudential grounds. Such a sudden, radical alteration in a foundational institution of human society would be simply crazy, particularly considering that the consituency for such a change is so small (which is why it has to be imposed by judges instead of settled through the Constitutional process). Also, I don’t see how legal recognition of homosexual relationships would benefit society.

As for what conservatism is, here’s a good place to start:

http://www.kirkcenter.org/kirk/ten-principles.html

(And no, I would not have used the word “made” in discussing the first principle, but Kirk was a Catholic, so I don’t blame him for using it.)

I’ve never seen met any atheists in Seattle with clearly conservative (i.e. not libertarian) politics.

Well, now you’ve met one. I live in Seattle, vote Conservative/Republican, and am a staunch atheist. I’m equally disgusted by socialist liberal politics, and by how the conservatives have embraced the religious fundamentalists in order to gain votes.

What’s more, I know several other people with similar views. They mostly do not advertise themselves, because in Seattle, announcing that you are a conservative can have serious negative consequences. It’s as dangerous being a conservative in Seattle, as it is being an atheist in the Deep South. So you tend to keep your mouth shut and try to stay under the radar.

Note when I said conservative atheist at top I meant atheist.

I used to be a religious protestant, and as I got older (I’m 60-been an atheist about 15 years) I began to see what a scam religion is. Where was God during the Holocaust and 9-11? Why  cant people prove God exists? Who created the Creator? I cant believe 85% of all Americans still believe this garbage. And I recent being called “liberal” as I believe in low taxes, low government and conservative  values.

But you are hated by the many who vote for the fascist republicans and tea baggers. For me is like a Jew voting for the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler. As a unbeliever myself I feel unwelcome in the gang of Romney, Bush, Gingrich and their ilk of hypocrites.