"Are you a conservative?"

I have been asked a couple times recently if I was a conservative. I have been thinking for a while about how to answer that question. Here is my first attempt:

I try to be conservative in my approach to finances, meaning I try to live within my budget and save for a rainy day. I’m not doing that very well.

I aspire to be liberal in how I treat others. In other words, I try to be charitable and generous toward all—in my actions, words, and thoughts—knowing that they, like me, are children of God and have divine worth and potential.

I want to be moderate in my consumption of food, knowing that my body is a temple for my spirit. But, I am a sucker for Krispy Kreme donuts, Five Guys fries, and tall glasses of horchata.

I strive to be progressive in my use of technology and learning new ideas. I find that technology generally has the capacity to help me do the same old things better, if I use them wisely. And I discover that most new ideas are actually old ideas repackaged.

I reckon I’m a bit socialist in feeling that each community has obligations and responsibilities that accompany the rights we have as members of those communities.

I have thoughts on certain policy ideas, movies, sports teams, and people running for office (their potential to be good leaders in whatever capacity they’re running for). And these thoughts change over time as I come to see things as they really are.

But, I don’t aspire to be on the right side of the latest tweet, to be considered one of “those people,” or to have a specific political party be in power everywhere.

Instead, I strive to live up to the covenants I have made with God: to love Him and my neighbor. And everyone is my neighbor.