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Before I came out, I was riddled with fear and anxiety. Why did I feel different from everybody else, and what would they think of me when I told them my true feelings? My family, my friends, and just about everyone would judge me differently, and I didnt want to break the flow that the whole world around me was following. With much thought and a lot of soul-searching, I finally came out of the closet. I am not talking about relating any differences about sexuality preferences, but merely discussing the intense adversity I faced when I finally came to grips with myself and posted the title of Conservative on my facebook profile.

People may not believe that it is difficult to be a Conservative at Brandeis for various reasons. They may think that our apparent embracement of diversity would warrant the presentation of any viewpoint, but this is completely wrong. Not only do the students provide much animosity towards people in the right, but the professors and just about everything about the university is anti-conservative as well. I have had to sit through lecture after lecture of Bush-Bashing in my classes as professors in history, economics, and even Classics conveyed their political sentiments in the classes. I howled in anger as Classics professor Koloski-Ostrow compared Bush to Nero, or when Coiner did one of his anti-republican tirades. The seemingly enlightened academics of this institution are conceited in their views toward political diversity.

I dont mean to be a D-Bag but quite frankly, the student body has given even less support for my views. Many times my friends would criticize my Conservative standpoints and some even asked how I could be a Conservative when I appeared to be smart and compassionate. Although I do sometimes initiate the discussion, many times, however, people will just start coming up to me and start sparring over a variety of issues, outnumbering me as many others join in the argument. I have gone on countless flyering campaigns where we have been heckled, our flyers torn down, and once, a hall took down all our flyers in a given dorm and placed them outside my door! For a school that prides itself on embracing diversity, these outrages are an egregious betrayal of the foundation of our institution and the image we attempt to present.

I am inconceivably annoyed as I see time an time again, people spouting off anti-conservative jargon and insults at me and my colleagues. Most of the time, students dont even know what they are saying and are just brainwashed by their environment to hate Republicans. I remember one time, when I tried to get into a deep discussion of a topic, my opponent started citing Fahrenheit 9/11 and the September 11th conspiracy theory movies in order of solidify her base. I remember another time, a person prided herself on being happy to openly and adamantly disagree with me because it is the utmost patriotism to disagree with the status quo. But this is quite ironic, because in truth they are just pontificating inane factoids and ideologies while conforming to the masses of people on campus! What a load of crap about embracing other viewpoints when they support only one and close their ears to the others!

I sometimes feel that even saying the word Republican is just too much to bear. Senseless droids simply associate that word with bad thoughts without even considering the ideologies. Most of the people are so deluded in their close-minded isolation that they can dismiss, make fun of and react in completely irrational ways toward me and my conservative compatriots. In fact, I have begun calling the republicans the Super-Secret Club so that I dont have to deal with the insanity anymore.

I have a legitimate view. I dont want to be heckled, made stupid or otherwise harassed for holding these sentiments. Though I sometime do engage in political dialogue many times it is flung in front of me. One time, in the middle of an meeting, someone asked if I was a Republican COMPLETELY out of the blue. I answered yes and answered her subsequent question that I favored the war in Iraq. Her assiduous response is just a microcosm of the blind, visceral, indoctrinated hatred for this view. I guess Im just tired of being treated differently for my feelings. I guess Im just upset at the reactions of my colleagues and the Brandeis community. But one thing is for certain, among all this trouble that has been confronting me, among all the things I have had to deal with: I may just change my facebook profile to Very Conservative in the coming weeks.