I’m sure you read that and your head spun. “ Republican… Millennial ?!” I know, quite the oxymoron. What a lot of people don’t understand is that no, us millennials are in fact not all clones born from a cookie-cutter. We are not all “one in the same”. We are a sea of living, breathing, individuals on the rise with different ideas; and innovative ones at that.

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Believe it or not, there are a few of us that shy away from the Liberal perspective so many of our peers believe in and find ourselves either somewhere in the middle, Libertarians, or even more towards “the Right”, Conservatives. As we all know, both sides of the spectrum have their shortcomings and I am in no way saying one side is right and one is wrong. But instead I would like to shed light on why, as a young conservative, it is not bad to veer off the mainstream ideologies that a lot of folks in my generation mainly agree with. We were all raised very differently, with different beliefs, cultures, and various “norms”. So my version of right and wrong might be a little bit different than your right and wrong.

Some of us were raised with firearms in the house, some of us weren’t. Some of us were raised in split families, some of us never knew their families. Some of us were raised in the cities. Some of us were raised in the backwoods. Some of us ate with forks and knives and some of us ate with chopsticks. Some of us went to church or synagogue or mosque or just stayed home, on Sundays. Our thoughts and values differ and THAT IS OKAY. What’s not okay is only being tolerant of only one set of values.

Believe it or not conservatives DO have souls and feelings and want to see people of every background succeed. I know this might be difficult to understand but we are human too. We feel and love and cry just like anyone else. Believe it or not conservatives are NOT rich old white men. (I am a young, certainly not rich, female!)

I refuse to apologize for thinking God, Family, and Country come first. I reject the idea that I am supposed to feel bad for myself because I am a woman and that I should try to put down the men to then be successful. I refuse to believe that killing an unborn child is okay, because it isn’t the woman’s body, it’s her child’s. I refuse to believe wealthier people should be taxed more, because they worked their way to the top be it by education or determination. I refuse to bow down to PC culture and “safe zones” because we are stronger than that. I reject big government and government dependency. I refuse to think if you disagree with me, I can’t still respect you just the same. And I certainly reject the accusation that I am a “monster” for thinking these things.

Do all Conservatives/Libertarians have the same stance on issues? Absolutely not. Some things I personally find ridiculous. I for one love the idea of green, sustainable energy. I for one think love and marriage has no place being decided upon by the government either; some girls marry girls and some guys marry guys, get over it. I also think safer, more organic treatments and therapies should be researched and looked into unlike Big Pharmaceutical companies.

At the university I was previously attending, I used to be downright terrified to share my thoughts and opinions on the issues we face today. Yet my liberal counterparts were able to speak both freely and passionately about their opinions. Not only that but it was quite welcomed. If I were to even try my hand at the slightest attempt of counteracting those arguments put before me, my place was completely destroyed. I would be told to “go educate myself”. (As if I hadn’t been getting the same education these people were getting right beside me.) I could have easily done the same thing to those who did not agree with me. But you see, I don’t. I sit there, I listen with respect to your opinions. That is the point of democracy. That is how America works. Well, how it is supposed to work.

What those classmates of mine didn’t realize is that I have educated myself on the issues. Maybe because I have educated myself so much on them, is why I choose to take the stance that I do. Maybe because I care just as much as you do for the humanity of our great nation is why I have come to the positions I take.

I have come to the conclusion that I am sick and tired of being overly-tolerant of my fellow millennials ideas, and they cannot tolerate mine. It seems as though we conservatives have to have a constant bit in our mouths as to not offend anyone. That kind of silence is the same kind the Left try to fight against. So, why is it okay when applied to conservatives?

I have plenty of friends that do not agree with my thoughts on politics and I love them just the same! Just because someone disagrees with me does not mean I have to hate them. Even if we think their opinion is stupid. I think that right there is our biggest fall back, America. We have to learn to have respect again. It is not “us” vs. “them”. It’s WE the PEOPLE.

I see nothing wrong with hard work, respect for your elders, respect for law enforcement, protecting your home by any means necessary, and wanting to see our country succeed. And if that makes me a “dirty conservative” then so be it.