Hmmmmm

I've officially entered the world of education; along with that comes the world of politics and other exciting ways to spend my time thinking.

And boy does it have me thinking. I am not becoming some whacked-out-crazy-liberal; however, my "conservative" roots are giving way for issues that go beyond the typical Republican, (especially the Far Right Christian Evangelical-type Republican.)

Let me explain.

It all began my freshmen year of college. I remember reading a school newspaper article in which a student argued that many (most?) Christians are Republican for two reasons: 1)Anti-Abortion issues and 2)Anti-Gay Marriage. The point of the article was to argue that there are other issues besides these two that Christians should be concerned about. And I remember agreeing that all I ever heard about politics growing up in the church was to vote Republican because Democrats were Pro-Choice. That was my basic understanding:

Democrats=bad because of Immoral Bill Clinton and because they are Pro-Choice.

An example of this was in The Oregonian a few weeks ago. The article discusses how Jerry Falwell equated Hilary Clinton with the devil. Then the article explains why Falwell, and religious conservatives (aka Christians), "do not favor Clinton for several reasons, but mostly because she is an abortion-rights advocate, 'the cutting-edge issue for social conservatives.' "

One more time: why is abortion (and gay-marriage) the only major issue(s) with so many Christians???????? Can someone explain this to me???

I have to clarify that I am still Pro-Life. But, if Christians are Pro-Life, what about after the babies are born, such as Health Care? Education? (the list could go on and on)...I'm Pro-Life for these issues as well.

To be totally honest, I have been doing a lot of reading and studying of current issues lately. And I have been unimpressed with Republican stance on issues of social justice. Yes, the statistics of abortions are alarming and downright sickening, but what about the number of children (or people) that die from war, starvation, war, lack of clean of water, war, homelessness, WAR, suicide, and war? Shouldn't Americans, I mean Christians, be concerned about these issues as well??

And, to get on my soap box for a minute, (which I can do because this is my blog and no one reads it anyway), what the heck is up with Christians=war mongers?? There is a disconnect to me. I'm embarrassed to be associated with the "Religious Right" that supports torture and war and all the other things that I just don't think Christ would support. As Bill Maher said, "of all people, you'd think Christians would be opposed to torture...Christ was Crucified!"

Speaking of Maher, have you listened to his show? He finds these evangelical, far-Right Christians and tears them to shred on his show. The ironic/maddening part is that I usually tend to agree with him. He knows the Bible better than some of the people he brings on the show!!! It's people who are extreme fundamentalists that have caused people like Bill Maher to 1)stereotype all Christians as the same, and 2) denounce the hypocrisy of Christians and thus Christianity itself. And I can honestly say, as I listen to his show, I get frustrated with what many Christians say and do, because I don't agree with them.

The even more frustrating part of all of this is that there are Christians that are doing really good things, but they get overshadowed by the extremists.

I recently registered to vote in my new county. And I had a hard time picking a party to be affiliated with. As cliche as it sounds, why can't we vote for the issues instead of strictly by party??