If I haven’t telegraphed my point sufficiently by now, it’s this: The more that extremists succeed in driving a community to change, and the more that those extremists speak for the community from an uncontested pulpit… the less one can say that the extremists don’t define the community. And the less one can realistically interpret the lack of opposition as anything other than approval of the extremists.

If there’s a case to be made that I shouldn’t call myself Wiccan, or feminist, or an environmentalist based on the company those terms force me to keep, there’s an even stronger case these days for abandoning the current Republican party and/or conservative movement. You, dear reader, may identify as Republican or a conservative yourself. And you may abhor the views espoused by those extremists whom journalist Johann Hari observed at sea. I sympathize with you. But have you noticed to what extent celebrated voices of your party echo those views and are rewarded for it?

Have you noticed–as Michelle did the other day–to what extent opposition to those views gives a person the appearance of opposing the Republican party?

But I’m not writing this to try to convince you to jump ship and join the Democrats. I’m not even saying that the conservative moment is a lost cause. I’m pleading with those of you who identify yourselves as such to not let the nutbars win.

Call me naive–you wouldn’t be the first–but to my mind, a healthy political process doesn’t involve death matches between the party of human rights and the party of politically-motivated executions. No. What I want to see are two or more parties all equally devoted to upholding the U.S. Constitution and the doctrine of justice it embraces. There’s plenty of room for friendly argument between parties so devoted as to how best to solve a nation’s problems. There should be no reason for me to doubt that both parties genuinely care about the well-being of every citizen.

Except right now there is, because Republicans in power have been voting for torture, and their celebrated spokespersons have been mouthing off about how patriotism is best shown through obedience and conformity. President George W. Bush has called the U.S. Constitution “just a goddamned piece of paper.” These things are a huge blow to my ability to presume good faith in a party.

So here’s the deal. You do your bit to shout down the nutbars in your community, and I’ll do my bit to shout down the nutbars in mine. I’ll keep pushing back against the social forces that want me to be ashamed of calling myself Wiccan, feminist, liberal, environmentalist, Democrat. You’ve got that same job to do no matter what communities you call your own. I may not agree with the Republican party or the conservative movement, but I want to be able to respect them.