When it comes down to it, what issues are really worth writing about? I’m would agree that discussing the news of the day, certainly has it’s purpose. However, when topics turn to politics (especially in the blogosphere), I have noticed a trend. People from either side of the political spectrum tend to write and talk in a manner that is best described as ‘insider baseball.’ Basically, most political writers argue under the assumption that you (the reader) already understand their fundamental philosophy or worldview. For most people, I don’t believe this is actually the case. In fact, I think that this assumption usually drives people away from political discussions. (By the way, I am totally guilty of this, and I apologize to anyone I have brow-beaten in the past with this assumption)

Ultimately, with that approach you end up with this:

…or something similar.

Appeal to Heaven is an attempt to take a different tack. My goal with this blog is to provide you, whatever your political leanings, with a resource for understanding a conservative world view. (In my experience, conservative ideas often aren’t totally obvious and take a bit of groundwork to establish.) The point of this blog is not, again -IS NOT- to make you agree. Neither is this blog an attempt to paint anyone who thinks differently as bad, wrong, or evil. There are plenty of places you can go if you want someone’s point of view bashed in your face. This won’t be that place.

In fact, this is the purpose of the comment area. If you share a different view, and at any point feel that your view is being misrepresented, or if my rhetoric becomes too harsh or in-your-face, let me know immediately! After all – Appeal to Heaven is an attempt to combat this very thing: the misrepresentation of conservative views by others.

Finally, you might be thinking – “Dude…barf, why care so much about politics? Isn’t there more to life?”

Could. Not. Agree. More.

This blog is not about which political party you should support, or who you should and should not vote for, or who’s the most patriotic…No! Can all of that.

At the end of the day, this blog is really about the philosophy of Liberty. This is a topic dear to me, that I feel most Americans (and perhaps people in general who have grown up in a free society) take somewhat for granted. Freedom is a precious gift that does not perpetuate itself naturally without effort. As Samuel Adams said:

The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.

This, for me, is what is truly at the heart of conservatism – the preservation and defense of Liberty. And, I would venture to assert that this is truly at the heart of most Americans – whether they consider themselves conservative, liberal, or anything else. The problem, in my view, is that most people have not had a real opportunity to hear the philosophical arguments backing traditional conservative principals.

That is the goal of this site.

And….(hopefully) to convince you that I have not gone completely freaking off-the-rails crazy. HA!

Best Regards to you, the reader,

-adc

I am a middle class web design and developer, living in Oregon. I decided to start Appeal to Heaven after my initial blogging endeavor gradually evolved from fairly random and silly topics, to mostly serious discussions on political issues. Eventually, as my interest and knowledge of political philosophy grew, I decided it might be appropriate to create an area devoted primarily to these issues.

As far as political perspective goes, I grew up with a fairly agnostic, or apolitical viewpoint. My parents didn’t really talk or seem to care about politics a great deal, so naturally, I viewed politics with disinterest. I was fairly content having no real viewpoint and actually kind of looked at ‘taking sides’ as petty, whether left or right. I had no positions. Or so I thought…

What little information and perception of political ideas I had formed, had primarily been created by the usual channels: Television, Movies, reading the newspaper, listening to NPR, and school. At the time, I viewed myself as completely Independent, characterizing the left and right as follows: Liberals were kind of crazy, but they had the best interest of the poor at heart, and they cared about the environment. Conservatives where mostly wealthy, big business corporate suits, hicks and rednecks, and Pat Robertson.

This all changed when I met my (now) wife, (aka. the fetching Mrs. ‘adc’). She had grown up in a fairly conservative home. Initially, whenever we discussed political topics I felt myself in sudo-disagreement with her – though I felt that really didn’t matter and continued to maintain that I was independent and had no opinion. What she said may have made sense – but I basically brushed it aside as what you might call ‘right wing propaganda’. Eventually, she started to ask me about my viewpoint on specific issues. More importantly, she ask me why I thought a certain way on a particular issue. On most of the issues in which I found myself disagreeing with her – I realized that I had no real reason for why I disagreed — I just did. As these discussions continued, I began to realize that I actually did agree with her reasoning, but I certainly did not want to call myself a Conservative. Whatever my position on issues, I certainly didn’t want to be lumped into the ‘Pat Robertson’ boat.

Still – these discussions sparked my interest in politics. I began reading things written by actual conservatives (something I had never done before) and libertarians (such as John Stossel). As I read and investigated, I suddenly realized that every viewpoint that I had about conservatives and conservative philosophy, had not been formed from actual conservative sources. Though I prided myself as Independent, I had developed very negative stereotypes of conservatives that I have come to learn are (for the most part) entirely false.

It only seems logical to conclude that the sources I mentioned above (TV, Hollywood, Public Radio, Newspapers, and School), while perhaps, not totally one sided – at the very least – tilted left enough to shape in myself false perceptions about conservative people and ideas.

Today I would call my viewpoints conservative. Unfortunately, by many – these viewpoints might be marginalized as crazy and extremely right wing (read: wingnut, right-wing kook, republitard, etc), and are usually written off as one, or all of the following:

1. Homophobic
2. Xenophobic
3. Islamophobic
4. Sexist
5. Racist
6. Intolerant
7. Bigoted
8. Hateful

I created this blog in an attempt to argue that they are not.

Therefore, in short – I am a Conservative, and a traditional Christian. Neither of which , as I hopefully can convince you, are any of the things in the list above. I think my faith is best summed up by this great quote from John Newton:

“When I was young, I was sure of many things; now there are only two things of which I am sure: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Savior. He is well-taught who learns these two lessons.”

-John Newton

Now, obviously I don’t know everything, and I don’t entertain the idea that I have all things perfectly figured out. I would highly encourage anyone reading this site – to also consider opposing or different viewpoints as I do. At the very least, I hope through this blog you can get a decent understanding of what a conservative might believe, and why.

If you wish to learn more about this blog and it purpose, please read the Why Appeal to Heaven section (or: Appeal to Heaven is not a blog about politics…).

-adc

You can also find this information under ‘About the Authors.‘