I am a moderate — a political and social moderate. I am the last of my kind, soon to be lost forever. Perhaps none will mourn my passing. The others of my kind have been killed off by PACs, marches, single-issue voting and venomous, bile-spitting talk radio hosts. They have been swallowed up by a citizenry more interested in self-preservation and their perceived rights than civility or civic-mindedness. Once I am gone, there will be no one left standing in the no-mans-land between the radical left and the extreme right.

Why? Why is there nothing left on our political landscape than ultra-conservative Republicans and pseudo-socialist Democrats? Why do both sides so adamantly insist that they alone can speak truth, are without fault, are 100% knowledgeable about what our country needs and correct about what our future holds? Do they really believe that the opposing side is a collection of unredeemable demons, vicious in their intent and stupid without exception?

As I watched the number of moderates around me disappear, I thought it wise to get out of the line of fire and seek shelter with one group or another. But I am unable to do that. I must object to both camps’ strange insistence on conformity with a wide range of issues that have nothing to do with each other.

I am an evangelical Christian, so I should be a Republican. But why must my being strongly pro-life imply that I, therefore, also approve of locking away prisoners indefinitely at Guantanamo without a trial or opportunity for a hearing? Why must I be in favor of drilling in the ANWR just because I want to keep “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I believe that the scientific data on climate change clearly indicates a human cause, and that meaningful environmental legislation is long overdue. But why do the Democrats assume that that opinion also means that I believe that the Federal government has the right to summarily re-define the definition of marriage, an institution that pre-dates the founding of our nation by perhaps five millennia? Why must my belief that financial markets should be more closely regulated be accompanied by a belief that abortion is a perfectly valid form of birth control that must not be regulated at all?

I know that there is knowledge, compassion, and a thirst for right on both sides of the aisle. There is also selfishness, deceit, arrogance and intolerance on both sides, too. Am I the only one remaining who can see this? Is everyone else in my nation so blinded by party leaders and political pundits that they cannot see what I see?

American politics is now bloodsport. We are more eager to rip apart our opponents than to listen and consider alternative views. We are bent on ideocide, rather than coexistence. Two sides want to utterly eradicate the other, based only the perception (perhaps very real) that the other side is equally intolerant. Love for our nation and respect for its unique place in history has been supplanted by the primitive, naked euphoria of tribal warfare.

I won’t listen to anybody who claims to be infallible or the sole source of reason. I won’t accept a belief in massive conspiracies as a logical argument. I will not stop seriously listening to opinions that differ from my own, even when I am resolute. I will never allow my faith in the correctness of my views to trump my responsibility to be cooperative and benevolent to others. I will not discount someone’s views on one subject based only on their disagreement with me on some other, totally unrelated subject. I will not abandon my ethics in order to fit in with someone else’s party platform or political profile.

I can find no refuge in a system that condemns compromise and views anything less than blind, rabid radicalism as milquetoast vacillation. I can feel my bewilderment towards both the right and left solidifying into bigotry against all.

I am still a moderate, but I seem to be alone, and I cannot say how long I can hold out. Is anyone listening? Can anyone hear me?