[Benman]

Why does it seem that on important moral issues, mainstream conservatism has nearly always gotten it wrong, or at least stayed wrong 25 years or so too long? Start with women's suffrage. Mainstream, decent conservatives argued against giving women the vote. Some liberals did too, but not as long. Question: do any modern conservatives seriously think women shouldn't be allowed to vote? Of course not, so can we just conclude that conservatism was wrong for a longer period of time on that issue? Next came segregation. There was a period, perhaps the 40s and 50s, when liberals concluded that segregation was wrong but most conservatives disagreed. It's important to note that we're not talking about radical bigots, just your average conservative. Today, there's no decent minded conservative that thinks segregation was acceptable, so what gives? Next came interracial marriage. As late as the late 60's and early 70's, the equivalent of today's National Review crowd supported laws against interracial marriage. I'm sure most conservatives, even far right, have changed their minds on that one too. My point is this--how can we give conservatives any credence on moral issues when historically they've simply been behind the curve on clear cut moral issues? I'm not saying that liberals always had it right, they just got it right sooner. What say you conservatives out there? How do you distinguish yourself from a 1950's conservative who was similarly situated on the political spectrum to yourself? Don't you admit that you would have supported segregation laws for some period of time after a majority of Americans realized it was wrong?