I grew up in a very conservative area, much like Lyon County. And what I know is that true conservatism has never been about cruelty. It has been about responsibility, moral restraint, respect for family, and the disciplined use of power. When the country intentionally inflicts suffering on the powerless, it does not demonstrate strength – it reveals moral failure.
Conservatives have long argued that character matters – in individuals and in nations. A government that deliberately traumatizes children, shames the desperate, and weaponizes suffering forfeits its claim to moral leadership. Order without conscience is not stability; it is decay.
America can be strong without being cruel. Secure without being heartless. Sovereign without becoming tyrannical. These are not abstract ideals. They are lived values in places like northern Nevada, where people believe in hard work, personal responsibility, helping a neighbor in trouble, and keeping power within moral bounds.
That is why the growing embrace of harshness, even deliberate cruelty, in our national politics should trouble anyone who takes faith, family, and moral responsibility seriously. We are risking conservative American values.
Conservatives have always believed that power must have limits. The Bible is clear on this point: authority exists to serve justice, restrain evil, and protect the innocent—not to glorify itself through cruelty or domination.
Immigration enforcement does not require cruelty. Yet policies championed by Stephen Miller deliberately use suffering as a deterrent—separating families, traumatizing children, and treating human desperation as leverage. Human dignity is dismissed as weakness. This is not about borders, or law and order. It is about who we decide deserves humanity. Scapegoating immigrants for political gain repeats a dangerous pattern from history. Cruelty should never be a tool of governance.
Scripture warns against this abuse of authority: “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees.” (Isaiah 10:1) A government that relies on fear and dehumanization does not strengthen a nation—it weakens its moral foundation.
That same failure of restraint is now visible in talk of taking control of other countries or territories, including Greenland. Conservatives should be alarmed by this. Free nations do not speak the language of acquisition and domination. That is the language of despots.
Greenland is not a bargaining chip. It is home to a people with their own culture, sovereignty, and right to self-determination. Suggesting that America should “take” another land—by pressure, purchase, or threat—abandons the core principles this country was founded on.
America rejected the idea that ‘might makes right’ when we rejected monarchs. We philosophically (but imperfectly) rejected conquest. The Founders understood what Scripture teaches: unchecked power leads to tyranny. Conservatives once stood firmly against unbridled ambition because we knew it corrupts both the ruler and the nation.
“What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) Humility is not weakness. Mercy is not surrender. And cruelty—whether aimed at immigrants or disguised as being tough, toted as ‘strength’ in acting against other nations—is not patriotism. It is a moral failure.
Cruelty is not patriotism. A government that breaks families, scorns the vulnerable, and speaks casually about ruling over others has forgotten why authority exists in the first place. Disrespect, rule by fear, is something that honest, independent people have always stood against. Strength guided by conscience built this country, and abandoning that restraint will undo it.
Suzanne Prouty
Comment
Comments