“Moderate” Republicans have deceived gullible, compliant conservatives for years, urging them to call a “truce” (or more accurately, a surrender) on the social issues until our state and federal fiscal house is in order. What “moderate” Republicans didn’t tell their gullible, compliant water-carriers is that they have no intention of ending the truce, because in reality they hold in contempt conservative views on life, marriage, and religious liberty. What many “moderate” Republicans (henceforth referred to as “immoderates”) do care about are conservative votes and money.

But they won’t care about those for long.

If conservatives don’t want immoderates elected, then they should better ensure they aren’t elected. They can accomplish this by voting for their opponents. Perhaps if the Republican Party sees that they can’t win elections with lousy immoderate candidates, they will find and fund candidates who support the entire Republican Party platform. And then they can harangue and hurl epithets at immoderate Republicans, commanding them to hold their noses and support conservatives who may not be their “perfect” candidates.

What is perhaps most troubling about the views of immoderates is their religious hostility. When conservative commenters dared to refer to God in their comments about the dismantling of marriage or the killing of preborn babies, immoderates would say, “Aha, finally the truth is out. Conservatives extremist fundies want to impose their religious beliefs on the entire country in violation of the separation of church and state.”

Word to immoderates: Conservative people of faith are as fully entitled to have their faith shape decisions regarding elections, laws, and policies as are those who attend liberal churches and synagogues and as those who hold atheistic worldviews. I think Martin Luther King Jr. taught us that lesson.