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Dig It vs theyoungdem

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America is a conservative nation (American definition)

Dig It said 04/20, 05:06 PM
Its all around us. The fact that we are one of the last westernized nations to have God mentioned in currency, on monutments and in our national anthem is indicative of our religious ferver. Our constitution is probably one of the most conservative documents used in government today. It establishes the states as strong powers versus the federal government and severly limits the power of federal government, though several of the rules have been circumvented. Lastly, our people. The avg. American strongly supports the military and is somewhat distrusting of the government. Our people are also resistant to almost any change in environment. Whether this is good or bad does not matter, in this debate.

theyoungdem said 04/20, 06:31 PM
Conservative nations? Our constitution is one of the most conservative documents? The American Government is seperated from the Church which was very liberal back in those days, also they didn't believe in a strong central government nor a monarch, that back then was not conservative, it was liberal, so liberal its revolutionary. People are resistant to almost any change in environment? That's why people call for change? Thats why democrats are having record turnouts to vote? America is not always a conservative nation.

Dig It said 04/20, 11:19 PM
If we look at the broader history of America, this is where certain aspects of our conservatism becomes apparant.

In the beginning, under the Articles, we were a very 'liberal' nation, but after eleven years we were willing to create a stronger federal government. The creation, at the time, was a strongly conservative step in terms of political philosophy.

In terms of resisting change, we were one of the last industrialized nations to outlaw slavery, and even that took a civil war. While it was only one section of the country that held onto slavery, it was a large enough portion to divide the country in twain.

In current politics, we have one of the most free economies of any western nation. We were crusaders in the war against communism and socialism. Many Reps will claim the government regulates too much or has too high a tax rate, but the fact is that these regs. and taxes are much more stringent the rest of the western world.

GWB won the presidency twice. Even if he 'stole' florida, he was supposed to lose the election by 7-12% of the popular vote, not 1%. He also was able to win during the largly unpopular Iraq war. The country generally leans more conservative.

theyoungdem said 04/21, 05:08 PM
First before I continue with my points. I'd like for you to think about something. How would this great country become how it is by being conservative and unchanging?
We changed so many times, once we were a country that practice isolationism not getting involved in foreign affairs, now we do the opposite.
You're slavery point is also poor, in my belief, since it shows that we can be liberal and change. And we have in several instances. Such as abolishing slavery, giving blacks the right to vote, giving women the right to vote, and much more.
One of the greatest liberal beliefs that we have is, "all men are created equal." And this is true, which other country believed that? That was a very liberal statement back then and it still is, a presidential candidate who has a race of a different country wouldn't do as well as Obama is in America, other countries would be much more difficult. People were afraid when George Bush won again, even though the war was unpopular they were afraid of what would happen, but now they see that nothing new happened except more money was lost and more deaths occured. Now the democrats are having a record amount of turnout since they are against it

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Ooh.. a good retort by theyoungdem. And I have to add, supporting the troops isn't that conservative of a notion. It's really just empathizing with the guys who get sent there and are stuck there for too long. Although I'm conservative myself, I don't know that I'd agree with your point there, Dig It. Sorry.

majestik | 04/20/08

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Most of the founding fathers were not even Christian, Dig it. They were Deists, meaning that they believe that God created and governs over the universe yet plays no direct hand in human affairs; God simply gave man the power to reason. Deists also believe that God wanted humans to behave morally, and that there is an afterlife. They do not believe in the Bible or in any religious prophet or writings. People accused Thomas Jefferson, my favorite Founding Father, of being an aetheist because he spoke out against institutionalized religion, believing it was tyranny over the mind of man.

populist | 04/20/08

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