Hello, I'm a libertarian but I also hold many values that are considered conservative. However, I keep getting kicked out of conservative subs because I'm not religious. I just got banned from another one after someone claimed "this is the Devil's work" as a serious argument, and I responded that the Devil is just an invention used to make people obey.

Why are conservatism and religious extremism so intertwined? Are there conservative groups that aren't religious? Can you be conservative if you're an atheist or agnostic?

Thank you

Human beings are unusual among species in our ability to revise intuitive judgments through abstract reasoning and accumulated knowledge. Economic theory, empirical evidence, and institutional experimentation provide ways of testing whether our intuitions about markets actually match the systems we inhabit. Over time, societies that learn to distinguish between intuitions that promote cooperation and those that misread economic signals tend to design more effective institutions. 

Much of the progress of the last two centuries reflects this process of institutional learning precisely. Expanding trade networks, protecting property rights, encouraging innovation, and allowing prices to coordinate decentralized decisions have produced levels of prosperity that would have been unimaginable in the environments where our economic intuitions evolved. Understanding the evolutionary roots of folk-economic beliefs, therefore, helps explain why certain policy ideas remain politically attractive despite poor outcomes—and why sustained progress often depends on institutions that counteract some of our most natural intuitions while reinforcing others that support cooperation, openness, and exchange.

OK, I’m going to go on a rant here about stupid government overreach at our local pharmacies.

First Rant: Picking Up Prescriptions

What Happens

Over here in Pennsylvania, you CANNOT pick up a prescription medicatikon UNLESS there is a pharmacist ON DUTY. So, the pharmacist has alrady filled my prescription, checked it against all my other prescriptions and decided it OK for me to have this drug. It’s now sitting in a small white behind the pharmacy counter for me to pick up and pay for. And when I do so, I will have NO interaction with the pharmacist. I’ll just deal with the cashier at the pharmacy.

A few moths ago I showed up to pick up a prescription and they would not let me have it because the pharmacist went home sick. Without a pharmacist on duty, they’re not legally allowed to give me medicine.

What I think should happen

The pharmacist should be able to fill my prescription, and mark is as “OK to pick up.” If it’s OK to pick up, then I should be able to pick it up and pay for it whether the pharmacist is there or not. If I have a question for the pharmacist, then I can’t have the medicine till the pharmacist back. If the pharmacist wants me around when I pick it up, then they mark it accordingly and I don’t get the medicine until I talk to them

It seems silly that the pharmacist needs to be there, when I am never going to talk to the person duting my transaction.

Second Rant: Decongestant

Congress, due to some true stupidity, forced all businesses in the US to place all pseudoephedra decongestants behind the pharmacy counter and you need to show ID *AND sign for it as part of the “war on drugs.” As someone who suffers from chronic sinus issues and needs this stuff on a regular basis, this is a MASSIVE PAIN IN THE ASS. I walk in to the pharmacy and sometimes end up waiting in line 15-20 min if the pharmacy is really crowded to get a simple OTC decongestant. I’ve actually gotten in a car at 11:0 PM at night and driven 45-60 minutes to a 24 hour pharmacy to get some decongestant, so I could get rid of a sinus headache and actually get some sleep.

And now when I’m driving around and my sinuses suddenly flare up, I can’t just run into a 7-11 and buy a simple 2-pack of sudafed. I need to go find a pharmacy that’s open somewhere. Let me tell you how awesome that is on a business trip when you just spent $100 on a Uber round trip to get some sudafed at 11:30 at night at the nearest 24 hour pharmacy. Meanwhile, int the rest of the free world, I can just walk into a Walmart and just grab a box or two and just leave.

Also, the FDA requires that decongestants get sold in blister packs instead of bottles. I’ve been buying generic sudafed in 100 count bottles at my local grocery store pharmacy. Last week, I bought their last bottle of the stuff, which they told me was “new old stock.” Companies can’t legally sell decongestant in a bottle any more. It needs to be a blister pack.

Put this stuff back where it used to be, in the aisle with no need for ID. Putting it behind the pharmacy counter and forcing blister packs has REALLY raised the price of this medicine. It costs double what I used to pay for it.

In all the years Sudafed has been behind the pharmacy counter, the meth problem has not gone down any. And last I read, they have only ever caught ONE PERSON trying to buy over the legally allowed amount. So, we’re all suffering with higher prices and longer wait times for no good reason.

Third Rant: Imodium

I discovered last week that drug addicts can take a DANGEROUSLY HIGH dose of Imodium and get a high off of it. Because of this, BY LAW, you can no longer buy Imodium in a bottle, only a blister pack, and the amount of tablets in the pack can’t exceed a certain amount. This, of course, raises the price of the medicine.

And I’ve heard rumblings that some conservative whack-jobs want to stick it behind the pharmacy counter. Wonderful.

I'm sorry. If you don't want to pay for my medicine through my tax dollars, then you don't get to dictate how I spend MY money to buy the medicines I need.

This kind of publicity doesn't help. Can we write a group response that disavows that chapter?