The Beach Boys & Conservativism

First of all, I wish to extend my appreciation for the person playing the chimes at Cornell today. As I left Friday Forum and headed for home, wishing I had remembered to bring gloves and an extra layer of clothes, I heard a familiar melody issuing forth from the bell tower. It took me a minute to recognize that the song was 'Kokomo'. It just lifted my spirits that somebody had the irony and sarcasm to make such a fitting song choice. I sang along (in my head, of course) until I could hear the bells and feel my fingers no more.

(This is the gorge we walk over on the way to campus.)

The main thing on my mind, though, has been stimulated by what's happening on the political scene lately. Ever since I came to Ithaca and learned about life in liberal country, I have had myself convinced that I'm moderate in my political stances. I've been in both camps and can understand why they feel the way they do about many issues. I don't get pleasure out of forcing my ideas upon others, so I'm pretty content to sit the fence. The last thing I want to be accused of is being 'conservative', mostly because I fear it also means I'll be perceived as naive, uneducated, and judgmental. Lately I'm beginning to realize that I'm just pretending to be something I'm not. Though an extreme conservative might think I'm a bit too liberal because I don't think certain moral issues should be government-controlled, I'm firmly planted on the conservative side of the fence. My life and values clearly dictate that. And I'm coming to terms with this reality. I still have no desire to force my views upon others, but it sure feels good to know for sure what those views are. And that doesn't mean I will unquestioningly follow a conservative leader because all the other conservatives are doing it. It makes my decisions more complicated because I have to study things more deeply to see how well they correlate with my views. While it may seem silly to some of you that I would have these feelings and then blog about them, part of my accepting this reality is to tell it to the world (or at least to the 5 people who might actually read this). :)