This is one of those:
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* I enjoy meeting and talking to well-informed, thoughtful conservatives with grounded, well-reasoned political and social philosophies. That doesn't happen very often. Most of the people I know who hold what they call conservative beliefs just accept at face value what their parents, preachers, or Fox News pundits of choice tell them they ought to believe, no matter how obviously nonsensical, undemocratic, anti-Constitutional, provably false, or potentially hurtful those beliefs (or their applications) might be to individuals or to society as a whole.
** I think Christianity (along with every other religion) is pretty silly, but a lot of the Christians in my neck of the woods (especially evangelical Protestants) are possessed of an especially irritating combination of willful ignorance, religious arrogance, and hypocrisy. I realize that there are other many places that suffer from excessive religiosity to a much greater degree than my little state, but quite a lot of the U.S. seems to do well without having to deal with this crap. My short stint in what may be one of the most politically, religiously, and socially moderate and tolerant states in the Union was certainly a delight after dealing with the all the religious and political insanity of my home grounds. Fortunately, despite the best efforts of some people, my state is much closer to being democracy rather than a theocracy. No doubt they'd be better at being theocrats than they are at this whole democracy thing, but there are still enough gadflys with a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution around to keep them from reaching their potential in that respect.
People of this persuasion rarely seem to have respect for anyone else's beliefs. In fact, it seems to me that almost any time groups of them attain power in a given situation, they end up engaging in religious bullying, by both marginalizing people whose beliefs differ from theirs, and by encouraging a particular religious culture in places where it's not necessary (and sometimes actually illegal) for conducting whatever business is at hand. Matthew 6:6, babes.
Most of them also seem disinclined to apply basic logic to any of their beliefs, be they religious, poltical, or social. As a result of this, in addition to doing their part to hold themselves and the state back, they also do things which seem, to me, to make something of a mockery of their religion. For example, my high school marching band, composed predominantly of Protestants (with a large contingent of Baptists), was in the habit of using the Lord's Prayer as a pep chant before half-time performances. Even the Jews participated in this - whether because they felt pressured to, or because most of them were irreligious smartasses who didn't care one way or the other, I couldn't say. I always thought it was ridiculous, and stood on the fringe of the group with my mouth shut, but come on - you really think those are the words of Jesus of Nazareth, given to his disciples, and you think it's appropriate and respectful to use them as a pep chant for a silly high school activity? Like I said, I always thought it was ridiculous, but I wouldn't have dared say anything. They'd all have been sooo offended that I challenged their religious practices (which, incidentally, totally belonged on a public school football field. We're all about inclusion down here). I'd have been even less popular than I already was, and may well have lost some of my kinda-sorta-friends. That's basically why I don't post this sort of stuff on Facebook. I can't afford to burn my bridges.
This is not to say they're not nice enough on their own terms, or that they have no virtues, but you can't expect too much*** from them on a day-to-day basis.
And don't get me wrong, I've met Christians who don't have their heads so far up their asses they can watch their food digest, and I usually like them. I still think their beliefs are silly, but their ability to think logically, independently, and deeply helps me find respect for them. And if they can manage to at least tolerate people whose beliefs differ from theirs, all the better.
***Like valuing education, critical reading, or critical thinking. Or dealing with difficult issues instead of retreating to unprovable (and therefore, they presume, unassailable) positions or some heavily romanticized past (we were a proud part of the CSA, but that's a topic for another time), or simply shutting down. Or respecting and helping outsiders known to be different from them, except under duress. Or not giving buckers-of-trends a hard time for not going along with their personal beliefs about how people should live their lives. Just to name a few things.
I think the above-mentioned commonly held qualities are significant parts (although, to be fair, probably not the most significant parts) of why my state is usually at the back of the pack when it comes to indicators of quality of life. But I digress. Isn't that a funny Venn diagram?
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