Drawing moral lines

For years, nothing has incited powerful levels of vitriolic conflict across political allegiance quite like the abortion debate. But something has shifted. More recently, conversations across the political spectrum have become dominated by a new litmus test: one’s position on the state of Israel, the Jewish people, and the Israeli-Gaza conflict.

On the right, there is a very vocal and rapidly growing ecosystem of content creators—mostly young men with online influence—platforming abhorrent views on everything from women’s rights, to people with disabilities, racial determinism, and of course Jews. These beliefs have no place in serious political discourse.

Until very recently, everyday conservatives were able to mostly ignore the extreme far-right. But when Tucker Carlson chose to platform Nick Fuentes—a figure whose own statements about women, Jews, and more are clear and well-documented—and when a major conservative institution signaled support, it’s now clear that time has passed.

We do have enemies to the right. And they are growing.

Any political party with an eye on the future—attempting especially to woo younger generations who will eventually tire of shock jocks— can’t lose the plot now. Whatever perceived cost there may be in distancing ourselves from the absolute worst iterations of the far right is nothing compared to the cost in embracing these viewpoints as acceptable perspectives within our political party. Democrats have failed spectacularly to distance themselves from the extremes of their own party. We can’t make the same mistakes.

I’m not a conservative because I have blind allegiance to the brand of my current political party. I’m a conservative because I’m operating firstly from a set of principles—religious and moral—that inform my politics. This is what conservatism is at its best: principals first.

What’s happened to the Democratic Party over the last several cycles serves as a lesson and a warning. Moving the line consistently further and further has a real political cost: Democrats are losing voters in serious numbers, held hostage by a belligerent and entitled wing of their party that won’t take no for an answer. Alienating the moderates and platforming extremes does not build lasting political momentum.

It’s Democrats who are now running a Senate hopeful, Graham Platner, with an alleged Nazi tattoo in Maine, and celebrating the win of a proudly Muslim mayor who reportedly has called to globalize the intifada. Both parties are in the midst of a serious reckoning. The question is who will face it with honesty.

Saying “no” with clarity and conviction is the only way to build a lasting path forward for conservatism. I don’t want young men with big followings to dictate the moral boundaries of my political party. Conservatives have a unique opportunity to draw a bright moral line now against their own extremists, when Democrats have failed to do so.

Young people need examples of how to stand firm instead of folding under serious pressure. This is what the Democratic party cannot offer to young voters. This moment of reckoning is an opportunity for Republicans to chart a different course: those who traffic in dehumanizing ideas about women, Jews, disabled people, racial minorities, and more are simply not welcome here. This is not the future we are building.

Some on the right insist conversations like these are distractions. But there’s nothing distracting about hashing out deeply formative ethical issues in the public square. Clarity on our moral center is imperative for moving forward. This is the work of politics. So I welcome this reckoning. I’m grateful this is a conversation that conservatives are willing to have, while the left stays silent and grows increasingly out of touch with regular Americans.

When our conservative institutions fail, regular conservatives can hold the line. We each have an individual responsibility to root out beliefs that dehumanize us all. The left has missed its chance. But conservatives can still steer us back on course. We can do better. We must.