Editorial:Requiem for social conservatism

Don’t be surprised if your conservative friends call in sick this week — it’s been a rough few days for the GOP.

Specifically, Friday’s 5:4 Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage in the United States hasn’t been sitting well with the red states.

Texas and Alabama, two traditionally conservative states, have taken steps toward circumventing gay citizens’ new rights — an unfavorable decision for the GOP’s future as social conservatism continues to sputter.

On Sunday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton responded to the ruling with a public statement. In it, Paxton implies that businesses may refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses on the basis of their religious fiber. On Monday, Alabama’s Supreme Court ordered probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses for up to 25 days.

Such steps, including efforts to privatize marriage, are undoubtedly unpopular — not only in the eyes of liberals, but for young GOP members, as well.

The numbers prove it — according to a 2014 study by Pew Research Center, 61 percent of young Republicans favored gay marriage as opposed to the just 27 percent of Republicans age 50 and older.

This divide is not only prevalent within gay marriage discourse, but other facets of social conservatism.

According to another 2014 study by Pew Research Center, “2014 Political Polarization and the American Public,” millennial Republicans and conservative-leaning independents are more liberal, as a whole, than their elder party members. For instance, 57 percent of young Republicans feel that immigrants strengthen our country and 48 percent believe stricter environmental laws are worth the cause.

There’s even a trend among young Republicans to claim to be “fiscally conservative but socially liberal.”

Surely, these aren’t opinions shared with traditional Republicans.

So, what does it all mean? Old conservative politicians pushing for dead causes in social conservatism are greatly unpopular. They are losing not only the liberal vote, but a portion of the young GOP vote.

It’s time to hang up the noose the GOP is tying itself up with. To be more palatable in nationwide elections, the Republican Party needs to give up its moot causes.

Sorry, but social conservatism is dead.