By Star Parker

CPAC the Conservative Political Action Conference has been an annual gig for me for years. But this year I concluded it was not my place and I declined to participate in the various venues at the event for which I was invited.
Yes the reason I declined was the inclusion of GOProud a group identifying itself as representing gay conservatives and their allies" as a sponsor of the event.
And its the reason why some of the nations most important conservative organizations the Heritage Foundation the American Family Association Concerned Women of America Family Research Council Media Research Center and the National Organization for Marriage - did not participate.
The founder and chairman of GOProud removed any doubt on my part that not participating was the correct decision by dismissing these groups as losers" clowns" and not relevant."
I of course have been accused of being worse than a clown. The barrage regularly comes in from the left. But this is a first that Ive had to listen to this kind of stuff from a group that postures as conservative."
I became a conservative in church. I thought I was doing okay in my previous life - scamming the welfare system going to the beach soaking in my welfare subsidized hot tub treating sex as a hobby and abortion as birth control.
In our culture today that views material prosperity as the ultimate barometer of success the truth is becoming unfortunately lost that the evil man can prosper. And if there is nothing more than what is before our eyes in this world what does it matter?
When I understood how the culture of welfare state materialism was destroying not just my life but all of black America there was no dividing line in my mind between social issues" and economic issues." The only dividing line I saw was between right and wrong good and evil.
The idea of gay conservative" is an oxymoron.
Gay" is everything that conservative" is not.
The foundation of the world view that so-called gay conservatives" embrace has far more in common with liberalism than with conservatism.
Its a world view that is man-centered rather than God-centered. It is a world view that rejects eternal truths passed on from the beginning of time. Although the world view that gay conservatives" choose to invent may diverge from the world view of liberals their common ground is they make it all up.
And it is here where gay conservatives" and liberals" fundamentally depart from conservatives.
Conservatives believe that there are objective and eternal truths not of the product of any individual human mind that are transmitted through the generations. Culture is not like HDTV or iPhones where the newest model is the best.
These eternal truths provide the light in the fog that keeps us from crashing on the rocky shores where our base instincts lead us.
Gay" is liberal not conservative regardless of what their stand may be on government spending or taxes.
Its why like all liberals they use language to create reality rather than appreciate that words have meaning that reflect reality.
So they have re-invented the word gay" re-invented the word marriage" and now they want to re-invent the word conservative."
Finally we will re-invent the word freedom" and well put the final stamp on the idea that a free society rather than being the path to truth is the path to meaninglessness.
What individuals choose in private and for which they bear personal responsibility is separate from what we sanction publicly for which we all must bear responsibility.
A value-neutral government is impossible. The central battle in our country today is about values and how we understand freedom. It is a battle for our very soul. And as we learned from CPAC its not a struggle that is just between Democrats and Republicans.
Star Parker is founder and president of CURE the Center for Urban Renewal and Education a 501c3 think tank which explores and promotes market based public policy to fight poverty as well as author of the newly revised Uncle Sams Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves Americas Poor and What We Can do About It.