Conservativism IS a religion [View All]

Many people might be baffled by the fact that conservatives and the religious right have formed such a tight relationship over the past 30 years. The religious right lean toward the economic populist side, and would greatly benefit fiscally from a Democratic Congress and Presidency. Yet they are bound at the hip by those that screw them over. Those that want to encourage American corporations to outsource jobs to China, and those that are in favor of giving more burdens to the middle-class in an effort to support tax cuts for the richest 1%.

Why, then, is there this seemingly contradictory partnership between the religious right and economic conservatives? What thread do they actually have in common?

The answer is that both religion and conservativism rely on faith instead of facts. And a certain type of person is psychologically and mentally susceptible to believing in things that just aren't true. On one side, you have people who believe an invisible bearded man lives in the sky and sits on a throne of clouds and casts spells on people on earth. On the other, you have unquestioning beliefs in things that never existed, such as the belief that tax cuts for the rich "trickle down" to the poor, and that rich people in this country are taxed more than they ever have been. One side believes that dinosaurs never existed, and that the earth was created in a week. The same movement believes both that global warming is a conspiracy theory and that people on welfare live like royalty. Both conservatives and the religious right believe in fiscal conservativism, yet they believe that the US should spend all the money it can in an effort to conquer the world militarily.

The common thread running through these people is that their minds require no proof, no factual evidence, and no rationality in order to put 100% of their weight behind a proposition that governs their entire life. They throw their entire souls behind ideologies that have no evidentiary value whatsoever. They're constantly living and dealing in the realm of the unprovable -- in the realm of the non-factual. The entire modern conservative movement is based on assumptions that are not only untrue, but absurd. Reducing taxes for the rich is good for the poor? An imaginary man invented in stories 6,000 years old says we have to legislate discriminaion when it comes to marriage? Science (the same discipline that brought you the combustion engine, the nuclear reactor, and the plasma TV that allows you to fix your soul on Fox News) is a conspiracy theory and/or simply a belief system, but Barack Obama is a Muslim born in Africa?

If you've ever argued with a conservative, you'd know: facts have no effect upon them.

Think about that when thinking about voting this upcoming election. This isn't about whether Obama and Democrats are liberal enough. This is about whether we can keep this country out of the hands of the people who put blind faith over facts. Staying home and not voting is like giving power to people who would put on a blindfold and drive an SUV at top speed down a pedestrian-heavy street with their hands folded and saying to that invisible bearded man in the sky: "God please make sure I don't hit anyone and guide me to safety."

When it comes to people's lives, I chose to live with my eyes open. I choose to vote Democrat.