Regarding the discussion with Will in the comments section of this post, my voting process for president this year went as follows:
1. I’d sure like to pay less taxes and not pay my monthly (high) health insurance premiums and still get good health care. I’d sure like a strong economy and an easier life.
2. But it’s not really about me and my needs and what is most convenient for me. As a Christian, there are larger things at stake.
3. Abortion is murder.
4. Late-term abortion is particularly vile and disgusting.
5. I can’t vote for a ticket that supports abortion with their vote even if they say they personally don’t support abortion.
In my discussion on the above-linked blog post, the millstone analogy was fairly incorrect to use (if you look at the context of the verse), but I wrote that on the fly. What I said there, however, sums up my feelings fairly well.
I said it before: why do I like Sarah Palin? Was it her bravado and constant talk about oil and drilling?
No. My interest isn’t in our nation’s energy supply.
I liked her because, when faced with a difficult choice that challenged her pro-life beliefs, she lived out her beliefs. She backed up what she said with her actions and gave birth to a child with Down syndrome even when other women are aborting them left and right. Policy wonkism aside, that matters; she made a difficult choice and walked the talk. She might fail and switch and compromise in other areas, but in this very, very key thing — she did the right thing. McCain has also proven his character in a difficult situation, and that matters very much to me.
President-elect Obama has a lot of glorious talk under his belt, with dubious background connections and a lot of suspicious love-festism coming from people in high places in the entertainment industry and foreign powers. I fail to see how he’s going to give a rat’s ass about some union worker in Ohio. But he has the talk and people love to hear promises given by a great orator. I will be curious to see if he walks it. I doubt he can. As I said in that previously-linked post: politicians are not the place I put my hope.
And, lest it was ever in question as to what I believed: Abortion is murder. If it is not seen as such, all promises of ending war and torture fall on deaf ears because it is already clear you do not have a value on life that builds a true foundation to truly end the scourge of war and torture and starvation and poverty around the world. If you can compromise on abortion, you can compromise on all that pertains to the value of life. If you can vote and act against even your own personal beliefs on abortion, you don’t value life, you value political points. And nothing good comes from that. End of discussion for me.
