Can a gay person morally be a Republican?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I voted Republican from about 1998 - 2004. I'd actually supported Perot in the Presidential elections before that and democrats otherwise (I still voted for one State rep that I liked in the '98 - '02 period who was a democrat despiting voting Republican otherwise). By the summer of 2004 though I was deeply disillusioned with the Christian right in the Republican party, finding it utterly inconsolable. The problem was that in my eyes the alternative remained worse. I'm still a deeply traditionalist individual, and I don't see that ever changing. But the definition of what I see as traditional in western society has no real comparison with modern conservatism, which I see as an outgrowth of religious-populism of the 1890s in the vein of that of poisonous slugs like William Jennings Bryant and Woodrow Wilson, who I see as the real founders of the modern Republican party in conjunction with Dixiecrats (of whom Wilson was really one).

I voted for Bush in 2004 already like one of the French voters supporting Chirac back against Le Pen; holding my nose. Within months of the election I managed to come to the point where I was damn near regreting it; well, hell, I pretty much did by the day after. There's nothing proper or ethical about the modern Republican stance, which ignores the environment, sustainability, practicality, the traditional government role of feeding and housing its citizens, infrastructure development and maintenance, and in a non religious society the assumption of healthcare which was previously part of the government-like Catholic Church in more traditional societies. Granted, these views in me have evolved over time. The rights of individuals in groups, and the groups forming the collective nature of our society, must be acknowledged instead of stripping us down to individuals alone. Society is more important than the people in it, because we only have an existence collectively through it.

At any rate, these views fundamentally divorce me from the Republicans, but I can't support the democrats either--I cannot, in fact, support anyone who supports democracy. So while I continued to publically support Bush right through 2005, I did it as a matter of national loyalty; I supported wholeheartedly policies that I completely disagreed with, as a bald-faced hypocrite, because I considered it more important to maintain a unified front of Americans to foreigners than to express my own opinions when in a time of war. But ultimately even nationalism has fled and I simply did the only moral thing left to me: Returned my voter's registration and resigned myself from the process.

[Adrian Laguna]

So while I continued to publically support Bush right through 2005, I did it as a matter of national loyalty; I supported wholeheartedly policies that I completely disagreed with, as a bald-faced hypocrite, because I considered it more important to maintain a unified front of Americans to foreigners than to express my own opinions when in a time of war.

You know, I was always under the impression that calling one's own government on its bullshit while still being willing to die to defend the nation is the mark of a true patriot. Learning about the origins of the United States and reading some of the associated documents did nothing but cement this impression. The attitude of supporting people and policies irrespective of agreement is not only alien to me, but I was quite surprised when I first heard it coming form Americans such as you.

[Darth Wong]

So while I continued to publically support Bush right through 2005, I did it as a matter of national loyalty; I supported wholeheartedly policies that I completely disagreed with, as a bald-faced hypocrite, because I considered it more important to maintain a unified front of Americans to foreigners than to express my own opinions when in a time of war.

You know, I was always under the impression that calling one's own government on its bullshit while still being willing to die to defend the nation is the mark of a true patriot. Learning about the origins of the United States and reading some of the associated documents did nothing but cement this impression. The attitude of supporting people and policies irrespective of agreement is not only alien to me, but I was quite surprised when I first heard it coming form Americans such as you.

It's not that surprising. Americans hear this "support the President or you are a traitor to the country" argument so many times that it takes on a Pavlovian associative quality, whereby it enters the subconscious and bypasses critical thought processes.