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I try to hide it. I like to pretend I'm a moderate. Sometimes, after a few drinks, I even fantasize about being a liberal (After all, who could be drunk and Irish and not be liberal?). But it's just a sham, and it's no use. The elections have made the fact inescapable: I am a right wing extremist. I voted for the rightward-most viable candidate for every office. You know me, I'm one of those who have taken over the Republican party, who caused us to lose the election, whose loose talk results in the gruesome murders of homosexuals and abortionists. Yup. That's me, a mean-spirited troglodyte.

But I am no garden variety homespun Christian Coalition type of extremist. Nosiree. I am a thoroughbred Vast Right Wing Conspiracy extremist, right down to my "Impeach Bill Clinton" bumpersticker and suspicious ties to The American Spectator magazine. Richard Scaife may even have subsidized my salary at one point.

I must confess that I think us extremists are getting a bad rap out there. I'm almost prepared to suspect that this "extremist" label is just a slanderous ploy by people who believe different things than I do. In order to better understand what is going on I envision an occasional series in which I dissect some of my beliefs and try to understand what it is about them that makes them "extreme". Because, quite frankly, I'm about the most relaxed, easy going guy around. If I'm going to accept the label of Extremist, I need to know why.

Let's do a little make-believe. Imagine that Newt Gingrich and Pat Robertson were encouraging and defending the systematic slaughter of Head Start Program students by their mothers. How would a moderate or liberal react to such a thing? I suspect he would, at minimum, speak out, protest, and do everything legal, and perhaps illegal, in his power to prevent such a crime from occurring. And none would dare call it extreme, because the reaction would be entirely in proportion to the crime.

Well, those who call themselves pro-life, which includes yours truly, sincerely believe that abortion is the moral equivalent of slaughtering preschoolers. Both cases involve the senseless taking of innocent human life. It is completely consistent, as we saw in the example above, to take vigorous action to prevent kids from being slaughtered, so that can't be what makes us extreme. And I think there is a fringe on the left who think all prolifers are lying through their teeth and are only in this so that they can control women. But if you accept our sincerity, what makes us extreme? Let's look at what is possible in this framework:

The only way that one can say a person in the first instance is extreme is if the belief itself is viewed as extreme. The belief that human life begins at conception and ends at natural death, and is therefore protected by Natural Law and the Constitution in between seems pretty reasonable. You can dispute it. You can disagree with it. You can try to persuade me out of it. But you can't label me extreme for believing it. You can only do that if you pretend that I don't in fact believe that life starts at conception. That's disingenuous and deceptive. Naughty Moderate!

Many "moderates" will take the position that they believe abortion to be wrong, but they do not want to impose their beliefs upon others. Baloney! We impose out beliefs upon others all the time. It's called the Law. Again, think of the example above: If mothers were routinely slaughtering their four year olds would any moderate hesitate to "impose his beliefs" on the perpetrators? I think not. In fact, if you believe that abortion is the taking of a life, but you refrain from imposing your beliefs, you come awfully close to the "Monstrous Extremist" category listed above. This is moderate?

I, extremist that I am, am a firm believer in "Choice". It is consistent with my philosophy that government interfere as little as possible with citizens. But if one believes that the fetus is a live human being, the right to life trumps the right to not be pregnant every time. (Even for you moderates out there, there is a good argument to be made that the individuals involved exercised his and her choice at the point they decided to have sexual relations.)

All of the discussion above assumes that you have a firm opinion about the life of the fetus, and when it kicks in. There are many people out there who simply don't know the answer. This is understandable. The question is a convergence of philosophy, theology, science and medicine. But think for a minute: If we are uncertain, is it more moderate and compassionate to err on the side of life or of choice? The risk of erring on the side of life is a slight diminution of individual liberty. That and six or seven more months of feeling really crabby. The risk of erring on the side of choice is millions of dead babies.

I can only conclude that the extremist label is vastly exaggerated, at least when it comes to abortion. In fact, I'll bet 80% of the American people would find what I have written to be right on the money. Do you? If you think I'm extreme, let me know why.

If Someone Believes This..	And Does This...	Then He Is..
Life Begins at Conception	Vigorously Opposes Abortion	Completely Reasonable
Life Begins at Conception	Actively Supports Abortion	A Monstrous Extremist
Life Begins at Birth	Actively Supports Abortion	Completely Reasonable
Life Begins at Birth	Vigorously Opposes Abortion	A Misogynist Extremist
Life Begins somewhere in between	Vigorously Opposes Abortion after the magic "life point" and supports it before then	Completely Reasonable
Life Begins somewhere in between	Actively Supports Abortion through nine months	A confused extremist