to 'guest' above: You say very well what needs to be said...it CAN work, for some people who "are pretty mature adults who know what they want and what they don't want, and are respectful of one another."

Jed-- you are certainly correct that there are examples of liberal 'meddlers' and conservatives who do not meddle...which is why I said that was one way we classify. Generalizations have their place, which is to describe 'tendencies' and trends.

It's sort of a reverse analysis---when you look at the most publicized 'conservatives'...Senators from Utah, members of the NRA, certain TV politico/evangelists, and fringe groups who bomb abortion clinics, you see the pattern---they identify themselves as conservative, and send a message that they intend, if at all possible, to make sure EVERYONE obeys the same moral code that they do...Of course not everyone who call himself a conservative goes to those extremes!...But many DO vote for candidates who "send a strong message about the sanctity of the family" etc...

Even many tax laws are written to penalize those who do not conform to the 'right' standards.

Lordy, it's so hard to condense this argument into a few paragraphs...maybe the way I ought to say it, is that "not every conservative tries to meddle in what I do, but most of those who do try to meddle call themselves conservative".