This morning a group that I am a member of was asked an interesting question. What do we as Republicans/Libertarians/Conservatives believe in and actually stand FOR? Now, I obviously don’t speak for the entire right of center coalition that exists today. I am more socially conservative than some of my libertarian friends, I am more libertarian than some of my socially conservative friends, and I am more fiscally conservative than nearly all of our elected representatives.

Despite these divisions and nuanced differences on certain policy aspects, I still believe that the center right coalition stands for a few simple things that don’t just bind us together as Republicans, but also have made up the basis for our civil society since our founding.

So what is it that Republicans stand for?

We stand for many things, to list them all out would be quite the task. But it all springs forth from our founding. We stand for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We stand for life, in that we stand for the dignity of the individual. We stand for life by acknowledging the uniqueness of each individual, embracing them for who they are, rather than what purpose they might suit for the collective. We stand for life in the defense of our nation through the sacrifice of a volunteer military.

We stand for life when we demand that patients and doctors make medical decisions rather than government bureaus and boards.

We stand for life with the recognition that far too many have been extinguished due to license and convenience.

We stand for liberty. We stand for liberty of the individual within the state, the state within the nation, and our nation within the world. We believe that choices that affect the individual do not need to be decided by the collective.

We believe all are born into the liberty our nation offers, regardless of race or creed.

We believe that liberty does not equal license, as license would no doubt curtail the liberty of others. We stand for this liberty in the church pew, in the corporate office, and in the public square.

We stand for the pursuit of happiness.

With life and liberty secured, the pursuit of happiness, the advancement through stations in society, a family, a home, and a nest egg, are secured along with it. We believe in the ability of the unencumbered individual to advance himself and the station of those that follow. We believe the free flow of markets will serve to increase the odds of the individual’s pursuit of happiness to be successful. We understand that part of this pursuit of happiness is the accumulation of property and that that property should be free from the threat of government seizure.

We stand for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, just as our forefathers envisioned. We do so with the understanding that man is flawed, and that our liberty comes with a requirement that we be responsible for our own actions.

These are the simple things that generations have fought to preserve ever since a group of brave men first declared our independence from the Crown.

These are the things that Republicans have stood for since the creation of our Party.