"Social Conservative issues"

I detest labels of all sorts, ( except when I am the one doing the labeling of course, then its all good ) but particularly galling to me are the issues known as "Socially Conservative" positions.

I don't think the two main issues that make up this platform plank can be reconciled with each other, and of course, I am talking about abortion and gay marriage. There is this idea that these two issues can go hand in hand, but I don't see it. To me, these are two completely different issues and need to be dealt with separately.

Abortion to me, is purely a rights infringement issue. I used to think that when you were born, you were alive, and not before, but medical science has advanced us to the point where its pretty obvious that at some point prior to birth, thats a kid in there, and then, by definition, that kid is a US citizen, with all the rights and protections that come with it. Helpless does not translate to right less. Now liberals and conservatives have both tried to define this debate on their own terms, which is why, of course, no one is Anti-choice, or Anti-life. Both positions sound reasonable at first glance, and thats intentional. How could anyone be against life or choice ?

But like most things, its not that simple, and my one question to the pro choicers would merely be " What choice does the kid get, exactly ?"

I do believe that a woman should do as she pleases with her own body, but that is offset by the simple fact that an unborn child is not part of a womans body anymore, its a whole new body, a tenant if you will.

Now on one level, this becomes complicated, you have a situation where one US citizen is currently residing inside another US Citizen, but if you take the tenant analogy just a bit further with me, it becomes pretty simple. You own the house, but the tenant has rights as well. You don't want the tenant ? Well, you shouldn't have signed the 9 month lease. Actions have consequences. Deal with it. You can't kill people cause they're inconveniencing you.

The usual caveats also fall short using this analogy, abortion "to save the life of the mother" assumes that one life has intrinsically more value than another, and thats as anti american as it gets. The "abortion for rape victims" at the risk of sounding callous, still fails the test, you do not punish a child for the sins of his father, rape is a horrible crime, but the child is innocent. And before you get all crazy on me, I support the death penalty for violent rapists, do you ? If not then kindly STFU, you hypocrite.

I do think that you will see the end of Roe V Wade in our lifetimes, for a couple reasons, one being that ultrasounds and other technologies make it crystal clear long before birth that there's a kid in there, and the other being the legal precedents set by high profile multiple murder convictions for say, Scott Peterson, where the second count of murder involved the unborn child.

Now, on to Gay Marriage, the other supposedly "conservative social issue"

As I have stated in the past, my views are primarily libertarian, I am a firm believer that our bill of rights clearly gives us the right to pursue happiness in our own way, however wacky our way appears to others. I feel the only limit on that right should be ( rather obviously) when your pursuit of happiness infringes on someones else's rights. And that, to me, is that. Do I "approve" of two guys getting married ? No, I think its pretty creepy, sorry (although two women doesn't bother me at all, oddly enough). But, the bottom line,in a free society, is that its not for me to approve or dissaprove, in fact, its none of my damn business. If you want me on board the anti gay marriage train, then show me the rights that are being infringed. Until then, I'm not interested. If you think telling people what to do with their personal lives is a conservative value, then I guess I'm not your sort of conservative, and I've already told you label me at your own risk.