3.25.2009

Politcs, The Environment & Such

As I mentioned in this post a few weeks ago, I'm really curious about why non-black Christians would vote for Obama. Seriously, I've been wanting to know. And I've been trying to find out. I've come across some black Obama supporters and honestly, I think that they have a different perspective. Their excitement over his rise to power, at least in the cases of the folks I've talked to, really did overpower any other reasons. And I'm fine with that (or at least mostly fine with it...as fine as I can be, I guess...). At least it's a reason. Anyway, here is an excerpt from the online exchange I had recently with an avid Obama supporter:

THEM: In terms of liking Obama....Well first I have to say that race never entered into it for me. I only mention that because you asked why a "white Christian" would vote for him. The color of his skin wasn't an issue for me either way, BUT once he was elected, I allowed my kids to stay home from school to watch his inauguration because I felt like it was so significant historically to watch a non-white become President.I have been impressed with Obama (his blunder last night aside) from the first time I saw him speak, I think it was in 2004. I agree with his position and ideas on the environment. I LOVE his stance on disabilities (http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/DisabilityPlanFactSheet.pdf). I am comfortable with his plan to get us out of the Iraq tar-baby that Bush-Cheney got us into, not to mention the end of Guantanamo. The big question most people have is about abortion. Honestly, I do NOT think most so-called pro-life politicians are going to do a thing to lower abortion rates. It hasn't happened yet, and frankly, if they did overturn Roe v Wade, they would have nothing to campaign on. I think they know that, and I think they will never really act to turn back that clock. I feel like a better anti-abortion strategy is to work toward incentives to NOT need an abortion. Sex education. Adoption credits. Things like that. So basically, abortion is a non-issue for me politically. Anyway, that's a brief synopsis of my thoughts on it! :)

ME: Thanks for enlightening me as to your position. I don't care either way about the race issue either, I only mentioned it because it was def. a factor in this election. And the only Christians that I heard give a reason for their choice happened to be black and honestly, I thought their perspective was skewed.I am def. impressed with him...speakers and leaders like him do not come around very often. So I agree with you on that for sure.I most disagree with his socialist philosophy and economic plans. This is what really scares me more than anything else, honestly. What he says and does is so contrary to the ideals on which our country was founded and looking at history, socialism does not work. People are not motivated by their own innate goodness and any philosophies or way of life that depends on humans consistently doing the right thing just for the right things' sake will undoubtedly fail. And my experience with socialized medicine (military health care) has just proved that all the more in my mind.I do agree with you about the abortion thing and it is really a card that people like to throw down as a mandate to vote Republican BUT that being said, he does seem to me to be on a campaign against the sanctity of life in general: ending stem cell ban, lifting the ban on overseas funding of abortion, and trying to void the Health Workers' 'Conscience' Rule, just to name a few (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701104.html, http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/07/obama-to-end-stem-cell-ban-monday.html, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/23/obama-lift-ban-overseas-abortion-funding/). I could never support anyone who did those things, ever...and that's also why I can't really be a Libertarian. :) And just for fun, I say the same thing about Democrats and the environment that you say about Republicans and abortion. I think the environment is the Democrat's abortion and I don't see either party really making a difference. As an aside, I do care about the environment and really try to do my part...

What do I say to that argument? Weak. Basically, she was overpowered by his charisma. That's how I take it anyway.

So I'm still on my quest for answers but this proves to me even more that people just fell in love with Obama and voted for him. Amazing.

Anyway, the environment. I do care about it and we in the Moody house are trying to do our part...

My kids are really messy eaters. Both of them. So in lieu of giving baths after every meal or using an entire package of wipes or 15 paper towels, I use one washcloth per day, per kid. I have a special set of washcloths that are used for this purpose and they aren't used for anything else. This is quite a major waste savings and I'm proud of it! I just tossed the old washcloths into the rag bin in the garage and bought new ones today. This is only my second set of kitchen washcloths since becoming a mother so I think I'm doing pretty good. And this is really an easy way to reduce and reuse...

More on this later.

ps: I don't think everyone who voted for Obama is off their rocker, I promise. If someone told me that they voted for Obama because they wanted "change" I would accept that answer. I don't agree, but I would accept it as legit. Just FYI.

2 comments:

Candace Piepgrass said...

Hilarious! I just spoke with a Christian friend today who is an independent who voted for Obama, and now she's regretting it. She too bought into his charisma, etc and now she thinks he's in over his head. Thanks for your thoughts. Also we should chat about the environment, and global warming, etc. Stephen and I have some pretty strong opinions as to how this is also a lie the liberal media has sold us. This might be an area where we disagree. Thanks for your thoughts!

Marlo said...

I think the media won people over on Obama just as much as he won them over by himself. It was as if anyone running against him didn't stand a chance. And even now, I feel like we are only getting a very small sliver of truth from the news that's out there. And wading through it all is downright tiresome.
So, I honestly think Christians who voted for Obama may very well have been hoodwinked by the constant stream of Obama-love going on in the media.