After reading the letter titled; GIVE ME MARRIAGE EQUALITY, OR GIVE ME DEATH on this post at The American Spectator and AmSpecBlog, I had to weigh in.I am more than willing to admit that I am not a Republican from old. I was a Democrat for many years.
As I grew older, after 9/11, I discovered that I really did believe in a number of Republican principles. Capitalism, self reliance, a very strong military and domestic protection. I do not have a problem whatsoever with the so called "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques", as I feel they were only used after "soft" interrogation had failed. I also feel that they prevented many deaths. And in my opinion, were not torture.
I want an extremely strong border. But, I am not opposed to immigration, done legally. We are a country of immigrants, our country was built from the ground up by immigrants and except for the Native Indians, every single citizen of the United States ancestors, came from another country.
I stand by our second amendment rights, as a necessary protection, in the event of a rouge government takeover. Yes, I do believe that is possible. We are no more immune to a dictator than any other country of the world. In the event this happens, I want to know that I and my neighbors have the ability to nip it in the bud.
And there are others that I agree with.
But, I disagree on the subject of abortion. I believe it should be kept legal. For extreme cases where the mother's life is in danger, a girl has been raped or a victim of incest and in some cases regarding domestic abuse. I absolutely oppose it's use as birth control. It is 100% possible to prevent pregnancy these days.
Gays? Read the above letter. I fully agree with him.
And there are others that I disagree with.
The government needs to stay out of our personal lives, if what we are doing is not hurting or infringing on others rights. (Isn't this one of our complaints about the Democrats?)
And those rights, do not include others "feelings". We have freedom of speech. The use of freedom of speech, hurts others feelings, all of the time. Are we going to eradicate freedom of speech?
Each of us have our own moral belief's. That is our right and I intend on keeping mine.
I do not believe in all of what Republican's believe in. So where does that leave me and the thousands of others out here like me? Without a right to a political party?
You see, by virtue of the fact that there are thousands of us out here and growing, it is telling.
Are we required to be force fed the extremely conservative belief's, just so we can vote? I'm certainly not going to vote for the Democrats. They have become a socialist party. And where socialism breeds, dictatorship is not far behind.
It is time for the Republican's to lighten up and change with the times. Or, you will lose many thousands of votes to that empty place, in the middle.
Of course, there will always be those people out there, stuck in their extremely conservative way's.
Then again, maybe it really is time for a third party.
3 comments:
Barry Goldwater went further than ANYONE now ... he said a woman has
a RIGHT to an abortion.
Personally I would want to end that right at the age of the youngest fetus saved.
WHY ARE THERE UNWANTED PREGNANCIES AND THEN ABORTIONS?
I also don't think Goldwater would want to see the word "marriage" in the constitution for any reason whatsoever.
I mean why not just monitor "FELLATIO" as an act only for the sacrament of 'some' of or maybe NO marriages as well.
The religious right is GOING to cause the birth of a third party over these issues.
If Dick Cheney feels the way HE does about these issues.....fill in the blanks ... religion has only a SMALL place in these things.
It cannot be any other way.
Faith and the moral laws derived from it, are a GUIDE, and that's all.
Excellent post, Christine. I sometimes get so discouraged by the hostility towards some "non-conservative" convictions that I just give up trying to argue. Thank you for reminding me there is no good excuse for that.
Several years spent in the Libertarian Party put me off the idea, but I'm just starting to believe there may be some hope for a viable third party after all. As our most essential freedoms are eroded, more people may come to realize that they must confront issues that deal with our very survival as free beings. As you point out, the government is now aggressively seeking to curtail our right to free speech in the name of not "offending" others. I refuse to let my mind be shackled by the religious (or other subjective) "feelings" of others, be they Muslim, Christian, or anything else.
Some people will decide that religion and personal morality-based issues are more important and choose to remain with a Republican party that puts those first. It's not so much an issue of "lightening up" as it is of establishing ones priorities.
I support the right to abortion including as "birth control" when necessary, though I might question some specific late term decisions. (Live births involve different issues.) But questioning someone's moral choice does not give one the right to violate her rights. A woman owns her own body and her own life and that is not contingent upon the agreement of those who believe she should submit to the will of a god.
I am old enough to remember when dying in childbirth was not a statistical anomaly and to have had that threat touch my own family. If that is "God's Will", then rape and incest must be "God's Will" as well. If someone believes passively accepting such undeserved suffering is a virtue, that's their choice, but they have no right to force it on others.
Epam, one of many reasons there are unwanted pregnancies and abortions is that birth control sometimes fails and some women know they are not cut out to be mothers. You don't have to agree with them, but as a political and legal issue you must decide if you are going to force them to continue with pregnancies and arrest them for murder if they do not.
And you are absolutely right: "faith" is a personal issue. By its very definition is is not based in demonstrable fact. It cannot, therefore, be the basis of law.
Some legal issues surrounding "gay marriage" may require sorting out by vote or legislation, but the right of two people to formalize their commitment to one another should not be in question. Again, this is an issue of some people insisting upon imposing their own preferences and moral sentiments on others who are harming no one.
The extreme example of Islam has given us all look at what happens when "faith" is encoded in law backed up by government force, including the power of life and death. People of "faith" must decide if they really want to do that -- on any level.
Christine, like you I am left wondering where do I go if my party listens to those calls to "lighten up" just on the other end of the spectrum.
Where do I go if my party decides to jettison those who view every innocent life as sacred and abortion as murder?
If I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt that taking the life of the unborn for whatever reason is a horrible crime against humanity--then who do I become if I give my allegiance to that party which refuses to fight against that crime?
So very many of us are at a crossroads in our political lives, as it were, this next year is going to be distressing,challenging and most of all very revealing.
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