Why I am Voting......

It is no secret to most, that as of now, I plan on voting for Barak Obama. Yes I am still a Christian! :) Very much so! I constantly get “attacked” for this choice. I am getting tired of hearing, “how can you call yourself a Christian and vote for Obama”, but I understand. I am tired of defending my choice. Only one friend has been able to ask about this without sounding like I was on trial (thank you Tom). The #1 argument I get is something along the lines of “what about the fact that he supports abortion?”. And in the rare times people feel they need more debate material than one little point, they throw out “Doesn’t he support gay marriage?”. Well…….I am going to argue my points ONE MORE time. I am going to give you a brief reason of why I plan right now on voting for Obama. I don’t think he is perfect. I am sure there are better candidates somewhere out there. But, from the choices I have been shown, He is the best to me. Let me tell you a few of the reasons why:

Let’s start with is: I am VERY pro-life. I don't support abortion in any way. It breaks my heart and I loathe it. I hate the fact that it exists! Abortion though, sadly is not going away right now. No president has gotten close to making this happen. No man is going to amend the Constitution. George W.is the “most Christian President ever” supposedly and has even appointed his own people to the Supreme Court and what has happened? The Supreme Court has not overturned Roe v. Wade. If he hasn't done it, why would we think the next guy will? It's just not going to happen. Don’t get me wrong. I will still stand against it any time I can. I will say without shame anytime and any place that I think abortion is a terrible, painful sin. And, I will not give up hope! I believe God can do anything. And I have faith He is working on all of this, even when I cannot see it. But as such, I think abortion is NOT the only factor to vote on. Keep in mind though that PRO-LIFE does not just refer to the life of unborn children (at least in my opinion). It means valuing LIFE IN GENERAL, in my book. My friend Kile said it like this: “But when I say pro-life I also mean anti-death penalty and anti-frivolous war.” It kills me how the folks yelling at me about this have no problem with a senseless war taking just as many lives!

I cannot be a one issue only voter anymore. There is MUCH more to consider. Many friends now refer to me as their “liberal” friend. I don't see it that way, but I guess in this respect I am. But as I see it these days, the way we use the term “liberal ideas" refer often to things that truly seem to line up with Jesus MUCH more than the Republican ideas I was brought up with. I like the idea of using every resource and energy possible, even the government, to help the downtrodden, weak and oppressed. This sounds very Christian to me. So I guess I have changed. I can no longer accept the argument that the only issues our government needs to deal with is abortion and keeping the gays from getting married. I think both are wrong. I think they are sins. And I believe them to be important issues to stand up for! I will never stop praying for them to be eradicated. But I also think there are other issues that we have too often ignored that are just as important.

For instance, I find it a shame we live in this great and blessed nation yet some 50 million of our own citizens cannot even afford basic healthcare, while we burn billions on war! At least Obama wants to try and do something about this. His health care plan may not solve everything. But it has to be better than doing nothing! He proposes a new plan that hopes to make sure that health care can be affordable and available to everyone that needs it.

From everything I can tell, he believes in and follows Jesus Christ and says so openly. As such He seems to believe that Jesus calls His followers to help those in need. He values social justice. He is also a brilliant man. I like that he looks to diplomacy first in foreign policy. He seems to unite people and I think he may be able to get people to work together. The guy can SPEAK! Hearing him is inspiring. He seems open minded. He is different, and America needs a change. We need “new blood” to breathe life back into our country! Of the candidates out there Obama is the closest to what I want from my leader even if I do strongly disagree with him on certain ideas.

I am not militant about this. I am not going to advertise with car stickers or yard signs. I am not going to argue with folks for voting another way. But, I am constantly being asked about this so I thought I'd tell you a little about it. Is he perfect? Of course he isn’t perfect. Could he turn out to prove me wrong in all of this? Yes he could. But that is why I am thinking how I am. In case you were wondering…now you know!