I spend 18 years of my life growing up under a blanket of conservatism. I learn how to be a good Republican. During an intense 4 years of college , I discover my identity and realize my inner liberal/Democrat. Thanks to a great deal of energy out of the "Obama effect," I am finally compelled to take action and speak out. Well, naturally, friends from my conservative past have finally come out to question my beliefs. They are good friends and I don't see that ever changing. I'm encouraged and honored that I am reaching a point in my life with these old friends where we can confront issues we never talked about back in the day. I have distanced myself from home over the past 5 years, but I must recognize it is something that will never go away.
I recently wrote a long response to one of these friends who questioned how I could vote for Obama as a Christian, largely due to his support of pro-choice policy. In writing my response, I realized I hadn't written out much of a summary of why I am supporting Obama. The following is an excerpt from my response:
I'm voting for Obama because I believe he is a quality candidate. He's a genuine character with a natural ability to truly bring people together to find solutions. He will drastically improve our nation's standing in this world as he is greatly looked up to. He has ignited young people all across the world to start caring about politics that influence the way we live, and has become a role model for all people - but especially at-risk young african-american youth who desperately need a role model. He's a cool character who handles pressure very well, and is backed by a well-seasoned VP who would be a much more efficient president than Palin (God forbid that situation).
Abortion is a very touchy subject. However, I strongly feel that we must consider ALL issues facing the Presidency. Especially when we speak of how our faith influences them. In fact, I feel more in tuned with Obama's religious views than McCain. Christ's message of "love God and love your neighbor as yourself" seems to have been lost somewhere in the McCain agenda. Obama understands that Christ stood up for helping those in need, for treating all people as children of God. Economic policies and social programs should provide all people with dignity and freedoms that we truly deserve. I feel like Obama's platform is more in line with this. Beyond this, a war, which I believe is truly unjust and impractical, speaks out against the pacifism that christ promotes. Finally, Obama's message preaches hope to all people in a tone that empowers people out of love. McCain has been running a campaign of fear, grasping at straws to hopefully scare voters into voting for him. This upsets me.
There's no easy answer to the abortion issue. Like I told someone else recently, the more we get caught up in arguing legality, the more we fail to tackle the more pressing issues of better sex education, rape/incest prevention, and providing better homes for children. Until we do this, give women the options and treatment they deserve for having to deal with such a difficult situation, we only make situations worse by forcing them to face issues that can utterly destroy their own lives. We must fight abortion with better options from the ground up, not try to quash it from the top down.
Again, abortion is a tough issue and rightfully so, hurts everyone's heart. However, if we want to talk deaths, we've got all sorts of issues in this world where our country has not taken sufficient action (darfur, etc.). If we're fighting for sanctity of life, there's a lot more we must confront, and I believe Obama is more apt to handling this.
Abortion is a very touchy subject. However, I strongly feel that we must consider ALL issues facing the Presidency. Especially when we speak of how our faith influences them. In fact, I feel more in tuned with Obama's religious views than McCain. Christ's message of "love God and love your neighbor as yourself" seems to have been lost somewhere in the McCain agenda. Obama understands that Christ stood up for helping those in need, for treating all people as children of God. Economic policies and social programs should provide all people with dignity and freedoms that we truly deserve. I feel like Obama's platform is more in line with this. Beyond this, a war, which I believe is truly unjust and impractical, speaks out against the pacifism that christ promotes. Finally, Obama's message preaches hope to all people in a tone that empowers people out of love. McCain has been running a campaign of fear, grasping at straws to hopefully scare voters into voting for him. This upsets me.
There's no easy answer to the abortion issue. Like I told someone else recently, the more we get caught up in arguing legality, the more we fail to tackle the more pressing issues of better sex education, rape/incest prevention, and providing better homes for children. Until we do this, give women the options and treatment they deserve for having to deal with such a difficult situation, we only make situations worse by forcing them to face issues that can utterly destroy their own lives. We must fight abortion with better options from the ground up, not try to quash it from the top down.
Again, abortion is a tough issue and rightfully so, hurts everyone's heart. However, if we want to talk deaths, we've got all sorts of issues in this world where our country has not taken sufficient action (darfur, etc.). If we're fighting for sanctity of life, there's a lot more we must confront, and I believe Obama is more apt to handling this.
1 comment:
This is a beautiful post.
Post a Comment