# Why have conservatives left this message board? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [April 14, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016 "2025-04-14T01:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/341 "2025-04-23T01:41:11Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Possible. What do you think could have caused these ‘basic impulses of decency’ to disappear, if not the decline in religious belief? I don’t think that “basic impulses of decency” have disappeared. I think that the ratio of basic decency to hatefulness in the ethical makeup of US conservatives (or anybody else) is probably much the same as it’s always been. What’s changed now is simply which kind happens to hold the reins of power. The conservatives without basic decency, largely enabled by solidarity in self-selected online communities where they didn’t get shamed for being vicious assholes, have denounced and repudiated decency and moderation in their fellow Republicans to the point where that type can’t win primaries anymore. That rise of hatefulness is independent of strength or decline of religious belief. Look at the sociopathic levels of hatefulness against Black Americans, for example, promoted by conservative anti-egalitarians during Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. The white racists who lynched Black people on Saturday night showed up in church on Sunday morning, no problem. Religious belief in and of itself has never been a guarantor of decent behavior towards one’s fellow humans, although it’s certainly true that in all cultures and eras there have been various specific religious movements that did promote compassion and decency. But it’s not lack of religion that’s made conservatives so toxic these days. That’s obvious from the fact that [many of the most toxic ones are also the most religious.](https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-transgender-republicans-trump-christian-conservatives-election-83becc009d8123d96a75c2e4940ab339) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/342 "2025-04-23T02:05:39Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Agreed in full, though I lean towards the view that Christianity has injected decency into American conservatism, somewhat. Ross Douthat: “If you dislike the religious right, wait till you meet the post-religious right.” Again, although embarrassed non-Trumper conservatives such as Douthat might like to deflect the blame for Trumpism onto the cultural phenomenon of weakening religious belief (for which, as a convenient bonus, they can blame those “freethinking” liberals), the number of high-profile counterexamples contradicts them. Is Catholic VP J.D. Vance “post-religious”? Is Evangelical Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “post-religious”? Is Christian nationalist OMB Director Russ Vought “post-religious”? Is Christian nationalist Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “post-religious”? Like hell they are. Nah, just more self-serving bullshit from conservatives who won’t take responsibility for allowing malevolent shittiness and ignorance to be made the face and heart of their movement. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/343 "2025-04-23T13:03:53Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > What’s changed now is simply which kind happens to hold the reins of power. The conservatives without basic decency, largely enabled by solidarity in self-selected online communities where they didn’t get shamed for being vicious assholes, have denounced and repudiated decency and moderation in their fellow Republicans to the point where that type can’t win primaries anymore. So you think the root cause of the change was the rise of the internet? Either way, from my observations there’s been a generational change: older, religious conservatives had morals that I didn’t personally agree with, but at least they had them. The younger, irreligious ones just don’t care about morality at all, they’re purely selfish. And that’s pretty alarming when you consider the future. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/344 "2025-04-23T13:16:58Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Either way, from my observations there’s been a generational change: older, religious conservatives had morals that I didn’t personally agree with, but at least they had them. The younger, irreligious ones just don’t care about morality at all, they’re purely selfish. I see little evidence they are less religious. And the “morality” of the right wing believers is entirely about mass murder, cruelty, bigotry and tyranny. Their “morality” is indistinguishable from evil; who else would consider empathy a sin? In fact the people without morality at all are some of the ones the Right hates, because they put making money about persecuting other people. They violate right wing morality by hiring people or selling to them, regardless of skin tone, gender or religion. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/345 "2025-04-23T13:17:13Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > The younger, irreligious ones just don’t care about morality at all, they’re purely selfish. Given that it’s the older religious “conservatives” who have been demonstrating a complete disregard for morality and a profound selfishness of late , I’m not buying the “kids today” argument. Meanwhile the kids are the ones out protesting against injustice and discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/346 "2025-04-23T13:34:12Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Meanwhile the kids are the ones out protesting against injustice and discrimination. Young people are no more a monolith than older ones. It’s perfectly possible for both these things to be true at once. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/347 "2025-04-23T13:38:14Z")
Does that apply to both forks of your observation that there’s been a generational change? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/348 "2025-04-23T13:56:20Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > The younger, irreligious ones just don’t care about morality at all, they’re purely selfish. Whenever you see this, it pretty much _always_ has to be translated to: their morality doesn’t match mine. Always, always, _always._ But it’s really just a hot take on the “Hey, you kids! Stay off my lawn!” chapter of most textbooks on ethics and moral philosophy. [Also see: these damned kids and their noisy music] ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/349 "2025-04-23T14:52:53Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > But it’s really just a hot take on the “Hey, you kids! Stay off my lawn!” chapter of most textbooks on ethics and moral philosophy. Those damn kids and their announcements that racism and sexism and letting children die of Aids are good actually. 😒 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/350 "2025-04-23T15:44:35Z")
Thing is, for at least the last decade I’ve been hearing about the younger cohort abandoning churches because the churches preach hatred and selfishness; not that they are leaving churches because the churches teach morality and compassion. There’s never been any evidence that religion makes people _more_ moral, and it’s especially implausible in regards to right wing churches which literally _exist_ to spread hatred and tyranny. That’s like claiming that abandoning Sauron would make orcs act less moral and compassionate. > [@DemonTree](#): > > Those damn kids and their announcements that racism and sexism and letting children die of Aids are good actually. No, that’s classic Republicanism, not something new. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/351 "2025-04-23T15:47:10Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Those damn kids and their announcements that racism and sexism and letting children die of Aids are good actually. 😒 I’m pretty sure that’s the ethos behind every RFK Jr policy statement. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/352 "2025-04-23T15:50:54Z")
Thank the nonexistent gods that no one under 40 is a Republican or thinks RFK Jr is the … whatever the new slang for great is. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/353 "2025-04-23T16:08:08Z")
Also, as far as the alleged “post religious” nature of these Republicans goes: > **[Veterans affairs agency orders staff to report each other for ‘anti-Christian...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/22/veterans-affairs-anti-christian-bias)** > > New taskforce demands names in rooting out ‘policies, procedures … or understandings hostile to Christian views’ I’m not seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/354 "2025-04-23T16:09:48Z")
I admire your finely-honed ability to just make up self-serving shit. It seems indefatigable. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/355 "2025-04-23T18:14:05Z")
I live in a very liberal city. In December had a conversation with a coworker who was irked that someone had erased “Christmas activities” from her classroom board and replaced it with “Winter activities.” And I was initially somewhat sympathetic, until she went off about how if she had to respect all these sexualities that people were pushing on children, and demonic holidays like Halloween, then everyone should have to respect her faith. When I suggested those weren’t the same thing at all, she started talking about how many Satanists and atheists were out there, as though they were the same thing, and I had to walk away. It was not what I was expecting. But absolutely that sort of intolerance is out there. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/356 "2025-04-23T18:15:48Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Either way, from my observations there’s been a generational change: older, religious conservatives had morals that I didn’t personally agree with, but at least they had them. [![](https://y.yarn.co/5542f8d7-a833-486f-b710-530024c9f8e5_text.gif) ](https://y.yarn.co/5542f8d7-a833-486f-b710-530024c9f8e5_text.gif) ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/357 "2025-04-23T21:36:18Z")
Okay, that’s two people defending the neo-Nazis vs the conservative Christians. Have I not explained the distinction well, or do you really think there is no different between people who agree racism is bad, and at most say mildly racist things, and other people who say extremely racist things, and when you call them on it, say ‘yes, I’m racist, and racism is good’? Because the latter seems a lot worse to me ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/358 "2025-04-23T21:39:42Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Because the latter seems a lot worse to me You think racists are worse than racists??? ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/359 "2025-04-23T22:39:49Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > You think racists are worse than racists??? Well, yeah. For example, I think people who say the N-word to sound edgy are not as bad as the people who took part in lynching. Do you typically see no gradations in bad things? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016/360 "2025-04-23T22:47:16Z")
Saying the “n” word to sound edgy (and I’m wondering exactly which “n” word) and saying mildly racist things are not the same thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-conservatives-left-this-message-board/1017016.md?page=19)