14 novembre 2009

Aren't conservatives racist sexist homophobes?

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This article is from the Conservatism FAQ, by Jim Kalb kalb@aya.yale.edu with numerous contributions by others.

Aren't conservatives racist sexist homophobes?

That depends on what those words mean. They are often used very
broadly.

"Racist"--Conservatives consider community loyalty important. The
communities people grow up in generally have some connection to
ethnicity. That's no accident, because ethnicity is what develops
when people live together with a common way of life for a long time.
Accordingly, conservatives think some degree of ethnic loyalty and
separateness is OK. Ethnicity is not the same thing as "race" as a
biological category; on the other hand, the two are difficult to
disentangle because both arise out of shared history and common
descent.

"Sexist"--All known societies have engaged in sex-role stereotyping,
with men undertaking more responsibility for public affairs and women
for home, family, and childcare. There are obvious benefits to such
stereotypes, since they make it far more likely that individual men
and women will complement each other and form stable and functional
unions for the rearing of children. Also, some degree of
differentiation seems to fit the presocial tendencies of men and
women better than unisex would. Conservatives see no reason to give
up those benefits, especially in view of the evident bad consequences
of the weakening of stereotypical obligations between the sexes in
recent decades.

"Homophobes"--Finally, sex-role stereotyping implies a tendency to
reject patterns of impulse, attitude and conduct that don't fit the
stereotypes, such as homosexuality.

For extended discussion from a conservative perspective of issues
relating to the liberal demand for "inclusiveness", see the
Anti-Inclusiveness FAQ, http://turnabout.ath.cx:8000/node/5, and the
Anti-Feminist Page, http://turnabout.ath.cx:8000/node/2.



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