A day ago, I received an e-mail inquiry from a state website viewer regarding their possible involvement in their state. I returned the inquiry by phone, resulting in a lengthly discussion about the Conservative Party. One element of our conversation repeating itself was the member prospect questioning of the party position on a number of social items. On balance I feel I did well and have already heard back again from this person.
I have looked throughout the American Conservative Party website and fail to see anything that is finite about an official position on social issues. Perhaps I missed it. There is much discussion about many social positions made by viewers, but nothing I could see that represents a plank. What I suggest is that we articulate the social issue into a plank. I think it can be done. The first and most important criteria for this plank, in my opinion, is that it be broadly stated.
One Christian biblical commandment is, “Thou shalt not steal.” We first teach our children that lesson about stealing in statements like this, “Jimmy, you shouldn’t take Mary’s toys to play with without asking her. You know, Mary’s toys are not yours.” A very simple understandable statement. As life progresses, that child, no doubt in school, will be writing about things. If they use your words without attribution, have they stolen them? Depends. The source from which they took your words may have provided for “generous use.” Knowing when and when not to use words of another becomes part of the graduated learning process that takes one from childhood simplicity to adult knowledge of more complex subsidiary versions of the original statement.
As we recruit new members to our party, the questions on social issues pour forth. “What is our position on abortion, on gay rights, school prayer, and on and on.” Although these questions represent extremely important social issues, in my opinion, they are subsidiary issues to what was the very simple social teaching of our founding fathers. Let me quote Thomas Jefferson, “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
That pronouncement of Thomas Jefferson took 20 words to make. Our task here is to create a plank that consumes few words that represents our party’s social issues plank. I will place one on the table for discussion.
“We uphold the principle that human life and happiness are personal choices, and society is best served when these choices are embraced and defended at the family and community level.”