Why I Became A Conservative
Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
October 1, 2009
In early 1992, I heard five words that were to drastically alter the course of my life. H. Ross Perot was on TV. He held up a toilet seat and said "The government paid $700.00 for this toilet seat." He then stated, "And this is public knowledge." Huh?
Perot then went on to outline more fascinating nuggets of information I had absolutely no knowledge of. He pulled out charts and graphs and proceeded to inform me of a world of facts to which I had never been exposed.
Having long prided myself on being informed, I decided to educate myself on all this "public knowledge." What I found appalled and angered me. And changed my life forever.
For the first time in my life, I picked up a National Review magazine and started reading. I moved on to the Washington Times, American Spectator and various other conservative publications I had never been aware of before. The more I read, the angrier I got.
I had always assumed that if something was on TV or in the newspapers, it was correct. I always assumed that our elected officials knew better than I how to address the problems of our nation. I always assumed that my friends' opinions were more valid and informed than mine. I was 39 years old and just finding out how incredibly naive I was.
Having lived in Los Angeles since my teens, I was never exposed to any other than the liberal point of view. I made the mistake of assuming it was the only valid view, just as millions of other Americans still do.
I had adopted the views of the herd, assuming that since everyone felt that way, it was the right way to feel. Besides, I was too busy living my life to spend the time necessary to form my own views independently of my peers. I had taken the easy way out, accepting and spouting the currently fashionable talking points as my own. And patting myself on the back for being informed and knowledgeable. Ouch.
After reveling in government approved and politically correct self esteem for so many years, the descent into humility was painful. How naive was I to have blindly accepted so many premises without question? How ignorant was I to have advocated certain positions based on face value and cheap sound bites? How stupid was I to have allowed others to manipulate and exploit my ignorance? The answer: Pretty darn stupid.
The anger I felt stemmed from finally realizing that no matter how thin the pancake, there are always two sides. And I had only been exposed to one. That didn't set right. I felt I had been lied to my whole life. I responded by making it my mission to inform everyone I knew of the astonishing revelations I was finding on a daily basis. That was another big mistake.
I assumed everyone in my world would be just as appalled as I to find that things were not as they seemed. I studied, I amassed facts, I quoted sources, and I lectured. And I got yet another lesson in humility. Instead of applauding my efforts, my family, my friends, my husband and my co-workers sent me to the woodshed.
I soon realized that my facts took a back seat to their emotions. I found that the conservative point of view had been judged invalid years before I became aware of it. The case was already closed. Hadn't I heard?
I persisted. "But how can you dispute these facts?" I railed. I quickly found out. Liberals demolished my factual arguments by demonizing me, thus relieving themselves of the need to entertain or debate any facts that challenged their world view.
Being stubborn as well as stupid, I continued my quest to inform one and all of the error of their way of thinking. With predictable results. Soon, everyone in my world informed me that there must be something wrong with me. Eventually, I started to believe them, and finally decided to keep my opinions to myself.
I tried. For three years, I consciously tried to keep my mouth shut. I tried to go along to get along. I failed. Long story short: I lost my husband. I no longer speak with my feminist mother and my liberal siblings.
Having continued to read voraciously about all things conservative, I was exposed to the role Christianity played in our country's founding. After further research and soul searching, I eventually became a Christian. Learning to have faith in Christ enabled me to have faith in myself - and faith in my traditional and conservative views.
Eight years after my epiphany, and 33 years after moving to Los Angeles, I sold my home and business. I said good-bye to the few friends and family I still had, and left Los Angeles for good. I knew there had to be a place in the world where I could be myself without ticking everyone off.
After a lot of searching, I finally found it. Its called Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Here in this little fishing village, I have found peace and happiness. I can identify myself as a conservative without having to go stand in the corner. Here in South Carolina, I am normal. I am also the luckiest of women.
Nancy Morgan is a columnist and news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina
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Article may be reprinted, with attribution
FW:Why I Became A Conservative
10/12/2009 01:00:00 AM
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10 comments:
Aw, it's the "Color Me Racist" gal again.
So your husband left you and you have no friends, all
because you started parroting FAUX talking point
"facts"...no doubt relentlessly and as obnoxiously as
possible -- if one can go by your writing.
Well, color me surprised.
So, she was raised to be a liberal and believed everything she read. Then, she suddenly discovered people disagree with that, sought out "factual" (that is, Republican-bias) publications and believed everything she read. She joined the political party of "family values," destroyed her marriage and stopped dealing with her immediate family.
She eventually moved to one of the stupidest states in the union that happens to have a number of rather serious (related?) social problems. Not only does she consider herself "normal" and "the luckiest of women," but she assumes everyone is as stupid as she was (and is) and thus is seeking to educate us all.
I was raised by Republicans and was never under the impression that everyone in the world agreed with my family. I listened to both sides, found confirmation from other sources when required, and deployed some critical thinking. Now I am a Democrat. Seems like I would have ended up in the same place even if I had been as stupid as she was/is. Instead of all the work and thought I went through, I should have just said, "This says the Republicans are wrong. I never knew you could think that. I guess they are. Now I am a Democrat."
Moral of the story: Rebel against your parents? Only believe the second thing you are told? If you are raising children, try to make sure they don't end up stupid? We should all be surrounded by people of below average intelligence and their pregnant teenage daughters? If you redefine the word "fact," then you are really annoying to be around? Real conservative women like to pepper their RWFs with allusions to D/s sexual practices?
I should never try to follow their logic, I always get all confused.
Dealing with a complex, nuanced world is too difficult for some people, so they seek out a religion that gives them structure and takes away their choices.
What an awful story.
First, as a native of Los Angeles, I really wonder where this woman got the idea that there are no conservatives or Christians there. We have plenty of both in LA county, and tons more in the neighboring counties. If she was really so desperate to be among people who parrot her point of view she could have moved down to Orange County.
Next, its sad that she was apparently so obnoxious to everyone in her life that she felt she had to cut off all contact with them. Family, friends, even her spouse? I suspect it wasn't her viewpoints that estranged her from everyone as much as the fact that she was arguing and preaching to them 24/7. Take a hint lady: no one likes being berated constantly for having "false" beliefs.
Finally, does anyone else find it ironic that her website contains the word "bias"? She's literally admitting that her worldview is heavily slanted one way. She abandoned one "herd" and made things better by joining another "herd". Is this something to be proud of?
Somehow I grew up to be a bleeding edge liberal progressive in an extended family of super funamentalist (of the C Street "Family" cult) rightwing Rush Limbaugh/Glen Beck Repugnantcan types.
But guess what? We manage to tolerate each other and still get along. It's mainly bc we all avoid discussing religion and politics when I'm around. I have to give them their "props" for this bc they are mostly "good" about not harranging me (or me them) about politics and religion.
And guess what???? It's not that hard to find other topics of conversation.
No sympathy for this rightarded person who lost all of her friends and family. I don't blame them.
If she's that stupid that she cannot learn how to treat others with respect, then she deserves what she gets. Idiotic.
There are three emotions that seem to drive the
modern conservative movement: anger, fear, and
hatred.
Ms. Morgan's column validates that assertion.
To paraphase the otherwise forgetable Dennis Miller: Did you ever notice that its only when people have so screwed up their lives that no one will talk to them that they "found Christ". I guess Christ didn't see them coming first. "Oh Crap, here comes that Nancy Morgan, probably wants to give her life over to me... TAXI!!!"
"How stupid was I to have allowed others to manipulate and exploit my ignorance? The answer: Pretty darn stupid.
"
So you've gone from being "pretty darn stupid" to being a moron by allowing someone else to exploit your ignorance?
Remember in junior high school, when you were freinds with THAT clique? But then you got to know some people from this OTHER clique, and they were SO much more flattering to you, and seemed so much cooler? They had simple answers for everything, and it was so easy to fit in! So of course you TOTALLY dumped the old clique, and joined the new clique, right? And then the people in the new clique were your best and only friends, from then on! Because of course you also made sure to be super-snotty to anyone who was freindly with people in the old clique - which really impressed the people in your new clique! (And once you were part of the new clique, it wasn't like you could keep associating with LOSERS anymore anyway!) And ever after, you KNEW that the clique you picked was the COOLEST clique, 'cause it was YOUR clique! And you wanted to tell everybody about your cool new clique that you were really IN with, see?!
It's like that.
No, really - it's JUST like that.
Why I intensely dislike most conservatives, esp the really obnoxious and dumb ones... this sums it up.
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