Thursday, November 29, 2007
He's Really Growing on Me!
This man, Mike Huckabee, is seeming more and more like a refreshing change for president. Here is another reason that I like Mike...
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Ponderings
What is my role and responsibility as a daughter of God in the political environment? How much should my identity as a child of God play into and affect my choices of who I vote for and the values and issues I deem to be the most important? This will inevitably open a can of worms, because we all have different opinions on this issue. I, however, have an answer for my own questions after much pondering, reading and some discussion with others. Before I get into my answer, I want to say that I am full of mistakes and faulty thinking, and I am corrected and need to be corrected quite frequently. So, as a person full of mistakes, here I go to begin answering my own questions.
To begin answering my questions, I tried to think about what issues were the most important. Was the issue of health care, raising or lowering taxes, the border, ending poverty, properly managing the environment, gay marriage, abortion, the war, the most important in deciding who to vote for? But for me, I am beginning to pull back away from political parties and thinking about what the heart of politics and this country and being a child of God means to me. For me, the most important issue is loving people. People are what God loves, what He sent His only Son for, and I believe a deep and true love for people is the most important issue. Now how does that play out in the various "issues" that we find out there that divide parties and candidates? I'm not fully sure, but I have to begin somewhere. So I begin with valuing people and valuing life. How can we say we value and love people if we do not value and promote life? If we are willing to end someone's life because they are an inconvenience to us at a certain time, how is that valuing people? So any candidate from any party who puts a measuring stick on people's lives and who does not value human life even in its most vulnerable state is not worthy, in my opinion, to serve our country full of vulnerable and imperfect people. So someone who does not value the right to life, how can they properly love and serve the people of our country?
Continuing with this, no one issue should be all that I use to say whether someone is fit to hold office. Someone could be prolife but have no idea how to lead our country. But I believe that one issue should determine if someone is unfit to hold office. For me, a person who endorses the killing of an unborn child should not be allowed to hold public office in this country. For some people, that one issue that would deem someone unfit for public office might be something like racism or the endorsement of pornography. It is similar to choosing a marriage partner. For me, someone who was not a believer I would deem as unfit for marriage, yet if they did not like chocolate, I could live with that. There are certain things that are more important, that show a person's character, than other things.
I read recently about a law in one of the states that says it is illegal to unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal. That person would be guilty of a misdemeanor. Now, how does that match up with maiming, injuring, mutilating and killing an eight week old baby with a beating heart, brain waves and the ability to feel things? Couldn't an unborn baby at least be on the same "level" as an animal? (Some of what I am discussing here is spelled out even more clearly by John Piper. His wording of this completely speaks my heart. Here is a link to what he says. )
I have a hard time, as a daughter of God, saying that it is OK to vote into public office a person who accepts this cruel behavior to human life...life that is valuable...even if that person was able to fix our healthcare system, save the environment and end the war on terror in his (or her) first year in office!
I just want to make sure that the lense I am using to see this world is not tainted by our culture and the "American Dream" of having it all. What truly is the most important? There are so many different ways to handle many of the issues out there, but for me, only one determines the character of a person, and that is how they view human life.
To begin answering my questions, I tried to think about what issues were the most important. Was the issue of health care, raising or lowering taxes, the border, ending poverty, properly managing the environment, gay marriage, abortion, the war, the most important in deciding who to vote for? But for me, I am beginning to pull back away from political parties and thinking about what the heart of politics and this country and being a child of God means to me. For me, the most important issue is loving people. People are what God loves, what He sent His only Son for, and I believe a deep and true love for people is the most important issue. Now how does that play out in the various "issues" that we find out there that divide parties and candidates? I'm not fully sure, but I have to begin somewhere. So I begin with valuing people and valuing life. How can we say we value and love people if we do not value and promote life? If we are willing to end someone's life because they are an inconvenience to us at a certain time, how is that valuing people? So any candidate from any party who puts a measuring stick on people's lives and who does not value human life even in its most vulnerable state is not worthy, in my opinion, to serve our country full of vulnerable and imperfect people. So someone who does not value the right to life, how can they properly love and serve the people of our country?
Continuing with this, no one issue should be all that I use to say whether someone is fit to hold office. Someone could be prolife but have no idea how to lead our country. But I believe that one issue should determine if someone is unfit to hold office. For me, a person who endorses the killing of an unborn child should not be allowed to hold public office in this country. For some people, that one issue that would deem someone unfit for public office might be something like racism or the endorsement of pornography. It is similar to choosing a marriage partner. For me, someone who was not a believer I would deem as unfit for marriage, yet if they did not like chocolate, I could live with that. There are certain things that are more important, that show a person's character, than other things.
I read recently about a law in one of the states that says it is illegal to unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal. That person would be guilty of a misdemeanor. Now, how does that match up with maiming, injuring, mutilating and killing an eight week old baby with a beating heart, brain waves and the ability to feel things? Couldn't an unborn baby at least be on the same "level" as an animal? (Some of what I am discussing here is spelled out even more clearly by John Piper. His wording of this completely speaks my heart. Here is a link to what he says. )
I have a hard time, as a daughter of God, saying that it is OK to vote into public office a person who accepts this cruel behavior to human life...life that is valuable...even if that person was able to fix our healthcare system, save the environment and end the war on terror in his (or her) first year in office!
I just want to make sure that the lense I am using to see this world is not tainted by our culture and the "American Dream" of having it all. What truly is the most important? There are so many different ways to handle many of the issues out there, but for me, only one determines the character of a person, and that is how they view human life.
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