A:

I wouldn’t say it’s a process of conversion, but rather a change in thinking and maturity level.  I am not a fan of the word convert or conversion, seems too formal and almost as if I was convinced by someone or something.  My morals have not changed, but my beliefs and opinions have based on new knowledge and experiences.  There was no twelve step program of conversion, I assure you.  

When I was younger, I was very much part of a “fuck the government” sense of being without any actual thought in to it.  I had no beliefs, no opinions, rather I just hated how things were going and blaming the government, the President, whoever seemed like a much better option than doing nothing with this feeling of helplessness.  I was extremely liberal in the sense that I didn’t believe in war (I thought it was pointless and solved nothing), went through a stint of vegetarianism just to piss my parents off, shunned and spat upon the Catholic faith that I had been raised in.  All because I thought that in some way it would change things (and partially because I grew up in a strict military family and I felt it was my way of rebelling).  That when I was old enough to vote, the government would listen up and realize we’re a generation fed up with being told what to do by some group of people who cares nothing for our well-being.  I’m sure this is a story you have heard many times from various people, but it is still my story.  I was friends with whoever fought with their parents and talked about how we were going to change the world.  Silly and immature, I know, believe me.  And like I said before, there were no reasons or beliefs or anything for me to be so extremely liberal other than I just went with it and that’s what my friends believed in.

What got me in college was really the one-sidedness of the college paper as well as the constant slander for the Republican group on my campus.  But what it really boiled down to is the complete flip-flopping and hypocrisy that came from the Democratic camp.  We had two guest speakers - Ann Coulter and Tucker Max.  Now, I’m sure you’re thinking that I’m a huge Ann Coulter fan; I’m not.  I think she has some good ideas, but the way she articulates them sets people off rather than sets them to thinking.  I understand why she does what she does, but it’s still not a method I approve of.  Anyways, the Democratic group on campus protested her coming to speak saying that their college funds should not be going to provide such a biased speaker and protested for weeks about the speaking event.  During this protest, all the Republicans said was “It’s freedom of speech and if you do not want to attend the program, then do not attend.”  At the event, there was a staged walk-out when a third of the audience left (to which Coulter shrugged and continued with her talk) and one of the members of the Democratic group forced his way past security (despite already being warned twice to leave the area for his behavior) to approach Ann Coulter and then had to forcibly be held and cuffed in order to leave.  Now, I have seen video footage from this event from start to end, have read eyewitness accounts, and read what he then started to write about with police brutality.  From what I can observe, he was asked twice to leave the area nicely and then when he pushed an officer out of the way to approach Ann Coulter, they took the necessary steps to ensure he would not get to her.  It’s a security issue, nothing more.  And suddenly it was this huge scandal.  The whole thing disgusted me, but I brushed it off as just him, not the Democratic group, as I had seen him previously around campus and he was known for his stunts.  A few months later, Tucker Max was set to appear at my campus.  Tucker Max is a pig who demoralizes and objectifies women.  He’s a disgusting piece of work and I could not imagine why he was invited other than I guess some people think he’s funny.  Whatever.  I wasn’t paying money to see him, so why should I care what other people do with their time.  The Republican group then began to protest him speaking, saying he had no morals and this was not something that wanted to be taught at the campus.  Fine, whatever, Democrats protest Ann Coulter, Republicans protest Tucker Max.  None of my business either way.  The Democrats then started their own protest against the Republican protest saying how they were trying to take away freedom of speech and that if they didn’t want to attend, don’t buy a ticket.  Hold up!  Wasn’t that exactly what the Republicans said four months ago about Ann Coulter?  Indeed it was.  There was no staged walk-out.  There were no harsh words back to the Democrats.  Tucker Max still appeared, he still spoke, without any of the drama and unruliness that had transpired during the Ann Coulter event.  Now, I know you’re probably thinking “Well, it’s different.  One’s a political speaker and one’s a comedian.  Or, this is just based off one event.”  But it’s not.  Time and time again, the more I read into and attended various political functions around campus, the hypocrisy and bashing that I had read and seen around campus continued.  When Mr. Obama won the presidency, an article was published the next day from the presidents of both the Republican club and the Democratic club.  The Republicans stated their upset at the loss, but wish the best of luck to Mr. Obama and hopes that what he promises will be fulfilled.  The Democrats simply stated “We were up all night partying and celebrating.  We were going to throw a chair out the window, but didn’t want to seem like the Republicans.”  …  Really?  The immaturity was beyond me.  It was all starting to become a matter of who I felt more comfortable around and who shared similar beliefs to me.  I’ve always been more mature for my age and yes, I’ve pulled my own stunts and pranks here and there.  But at college, it seemed silly.  Why couldn’t we agree to disagree?  Why did we need to force the other to convert to one way of thinking?  Why did it always have to be slander and not debates?  It was the tipping point when I finally started to take an interest in politics and not just blindly say I’m liberal or Democrat.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hardcore Republican either.  I don’t tend to like either party as a whole, which is completely normal as you’re never going to agree with someone 100% and if you did, that’s weird and I would never want to meet another “me”. I consider myself moderate conservative.  Based off the reasoning that in the majority of things I find myself conservative, while I am more socially liberal. To explain this more clearly, let me share a few of my personal beliefs with you:

• If you are a criminal, that is your choice.  No one forced you to steal, cheat, what have you.  It is a choice, you are not a victim of society or whatever else you decide to blame.
• Parents are not there to be your friends.  Your support, yes, but not your friends.  They are there to instill morals and build your character.  They are there to prepare you for when you are older.  They are not there to let your friends crash at their house as they supply you and your underages with alcohol.  They should be allowed to use discipline (obviously not abuse) to teach you right from wrong.
• The government has no right to tell me I can not obtain a gun through the legal process or to limit me in any way.  It is contained within the Bill of Rights that I have the right to carry and bear arms.  Taking away that right does NOT stop crime.
• War is a necessary evil.  As much as it sucks and is filled with horror, not everything can be achieved through peace negotiations.  I don’t believe that we went to Iraq for all of the right reasons, but we are there now and to suddenly pull out opens up the United States to the rest of the world as weak.
• Nothing is given to you.  There is no such thing as an even playing ground.  Opportunities are there for all, but to think everything is fair is childish.  It would be nice, but it’s not true.  And if you want something, you work for it and you bust your ass to get it.  Nothing is handed to you.
• Do not interfere with my social life.  The government should have no say in what I do with my life as long as I am not harming anyone else.  As soon as I cause harm to another person, I give up my rights.
• I am for gay marriage.  Based off what I said above, if they are not harming anyone, why bother interfering with their lives.  They love who they love and no one should stop them from doing so.
• I am against abortion.  It’s an innocent child who has done nothing to harm another human being.  I understand there are cases of rape, but even still, the chances of conceiving during rape are very slim and the majority of women only receive an abortion due to society’s or their family’s pressure.  Abortions are traumatizing to a woman’s mental and physical well-being.
• I do believe in the death penalty.  If you have killed another person, you have forsaken your rights.  No amount of rehab is going to change your moral character and you are a danger to the people around you.  I’m not playing God, but you have already proven yourself to be a danger to society.

These are just a few things, but it is to show to you that while I am conservative in a number of matters, I still hold some liberal beliefs, again mostly pertaining to the social aspect.  But the morals behind it are very much so conservative.  Conservatives believe that the government should not interfere with society and social life, that the government has no right to tell us what to do with our lives or how to live them.  At the same token, if we do not want government to control our lives, we cannot expect hand-outs from the government.  A conservative believes that it all starts at the home with love and care, but also respect and moral-building.  But I digress from your question.

I actually didn’t lose any of my friends based off my political change.  I have always kept politics to myself, my blog, and a select number of very close friends.  I will discuss and debate and think and come back to you on any topic you throw my way.  If I don’t know about it, I’ll research it and come up to my own conclusion.  I’m not conservative because I read a list of what they believe in, but rather I set down my own beliefs and it just more closely fit with that particular group.  My friendships aren’t based around our political affiliation.  I’m actually very close friends to a number of very extremely liberal people who I have very intense political debates with.  But at the end of the day, it’s not something we discuss every time we speak.  It’s not something that makes me view them in a different light.  It’s not the main focus of our friendship.  Political affiliation is a single facet to a person and it would be very immature of me to say “Oh, you’re liberal, we’re not friends.”  So no, I have never lost a friend based off my “conversion to conservatism.”