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Recently-published portions of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell's 1989 graduate thesis have created a major uproar in the mainstream media. They are particularly outraged at McDonnell's assertion that government should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals, or fornicators." For the life of me, I cannot fathom why this would this would be such a horrible thing. Yet we are told by the pundits that these views are "not mainstream." One popular news magazine even referred to them as "bizarre."
In addition, many individuals have responded in typical knee-jerk fashion, stating that they prefer to "keep the government out of my bedroom," an obvious inference that McDonnell favors forced limitations on their privacy rights. But that's nothing but a red herring. Rights are not the issue here. McDonnell wasn't talking about taking away the rights of adults to have consensual sex with whomever they choose. And he wasn't endorsing any kind of employment opportunity discrimination against gays and those who are living in sin.
All he was saying is that the government shouldn't condone the lifestyles of homosexual couples or those heterosexual couples who are "shacking up" by bestowing upon them the same privileges that were once reserved for married couples. Remember, privileges are different from rights, which are inalienable and cannot be arbitrarily given or taken away by the government. Certainly one's private life, no matter how distasteful or ungodly, does not justify government denial of his or her rights. However, the government is well within its authority to distribute privileges as determined by the people's elected representatives.
Also, keep in mind that just because people have the right to do certain things, doesn't mean they should expect to be free from condemnation for such. No one protests when we malign acts such as murder, theft, rape, child molestation, and fraud. However, criticism of personal sexual immorality is often met with a tumultuous and hysterical response. That's a sure indicator of a depraved society. And this is not just a criticism of liberals. Many so-called conservatives – who have an undying love affair with Rush Limbaugh and swear by Fox News – are as likely to consider premarital/extramarital sex "normal" as their liberal neighbor down the street.
There's more to conservatism than attending "tea parties," shouting down others at townhall meetings, and taking a stand for a strong national defense, smaller government, and lower taxes. When conservatives blend with the culture, they are no more moral than leftwing nut jobs like Keith Olbermann. While those of Olbermann's ilk have sharply criticized the thesis, members of McDonnell's own Republican Party have made little or no effort to defend the merits of the arguments he laid out 20 years ago. Instead, they have been busy trying to change the subject while pointing out the weaknesses of the Democratic candidate, Creigh Deeds.
I was indifferent toward McDonnell until I heard about this. His strong moral stance gave me cause to consider enthusiastically supporting him – for a while, anyway. Predictably and unfortunately, though, McDonnell is now kowtowing to political correctness and backing down from those "controversial" remarks he penned in his thesis. In fact, he's backpedaling faster than a circus clown. Instead of standing firm for what is right, he is apparently willing to sell his soul to get elected, thereby falling in line behind nearly every other modern politician. Too bad.
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Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, amateur political analyst, and blogger from Virginia, USA. He posts a least one article a day to his blog - http://commenterry.blogs.com - on subjects such as current events, politics, technology, society and culture, religion, health and well-being, self improvement, personal finance, trivia, and sports.
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