Why I, as a Christian, vote Democrat:
– Abortion. I concede this, in general, to the Republicans. I do worry that, in their haste to eliminate abortion-on-demand, they will limit access for legitimate medical cause..
– Money, in general. My observation is the Democrats tend to value people over money, whereas Republicans tend to value money over people, in terms of their policies. Which leads me to my next few points:
o Class warfare. Under the republican era from 2000 – 2008, wages for the middle class went down in real terms. In the mean time, the richest couple percentile added to their wealth enormously. Warren Buffet, head of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the richest men in the world, has many excellent quotes on this topic. Among other things, he stated it is a "little obscene" that the tax system has gotten "tilted toward guys like me" over the last 20 years. He also states that the Bush Administrations policies had created a class war, and that his class (the uber-rich) were winning. He also stated that his secretary pays a higher tax rate, as a % of her total income, than he does. My hope was that Dem’s would correct this. I have little hope of this at this point (see this open letter to Dem's). Favoring the Rich is not a valid Christian position.
o The Environment. Again, they favor profits over environment. Take as evidence their resistance to cap-and-trade, which attempted to regulate CO2 emissions by creating a free market environment that serves this purpose. The Republican argument that I’ve heard against this is two-fold. A) Global climate change isn’t real. I disagree with this based on evidence I’ve seen presented. B) It will be too expensive. I feel that this is prioritizing money and corporate profits over the needs of God’s good earth and His people. Take also as evidence the resistance and general hostility to alternative energy as evidenced by Reagan taking Carter’s solar panels off of the white house. God put man in the garden, and charged him with care over it. We must take care of the Earth because it is his, and because we are stewards who share it with our brothers and our progeny.
o Overall perspective on Rich Vs. Poor. I have observed that Republicans tend to strongly favor the Rich, and there’s generally a feeling that the poor deserve to be poor and the rich shouldn’t be punished for their superiority. I do not see this as a Christian perspective. Even if the Rich are superior and the poor do somehow deserve it because they’re weak or stupid or lazy, Christ would have our society attend to the “least of these”, not lord it over them. Democrats seem to be much more in tune with this. I suppose it depends on whether you think of the poor as lazy lie-abouts or as decent people who caught some bad breaks, made some mistakes, or whatever.
o Monetary policy. This isn’t so much Christian, and just a question of responsibility. Democrats may be tax-and-spend liberals, but Republicans are don’t-tax-and-spend-anyway conservatives. In my lifetime I’ve seen the following scenario play out. Carter ran an $800 Billion deficit, and people howled. Reagan then talked a good game but in reality turned this into a multi-trillion dollar deficit by cutting taxes and increasing spending. Bush(1) continued his policies, but to his credit at least tried to raise taxes. Clinton then came into office, and we have an era of budget surpluses, which we handed to Bush(2), who again turned them into record deficits with an unfunded entitlements program (prescription program for Medicare recipients), two unwise and poorly executed wars, and tax cuts we couldn’t afford and which did not benefit the middle class in any significant way. BTW, I’m all for the prescription program, but we needed to fund it.
o Free markets / Big Government. This will be easily misunderstood, so I’ll try to say it carefully. Free markets are great, and they do many things well. However, they do not do EVERYTHING well, and they MUST be regulated. Where they do not do things well, Government needs to fill th gap. Where they do not act in the best interest of the nation as a whole, they need to be regulated, altered, or even broken up. A tremendous example of in improperly regulated free market is slavery. It worked REALLY well for all sorts Dutch traders and southern plantation owners, but it shouldn’t have existed because it was REALLY BAD for Labor, who also happened to be the product. Government has a place in creating and regulating markets, and in trying to assure that they work for everyone, not just the metaphorical slave-owners. There are some problems that Government is uniquely positioned to solve, and I think it makes sense to let them. This all-government-is-bad-all-markets-are-good dogma is nonsense, and it is central to current Republican thinking. Again, not Christian, just sayin’.
– Foreign Policy. I’ve observed current temper of the Republican party seems to be very belligerent and unilateral related to foreign policy. This was certainly true under Bush(2)’s term, but I do not see that it has changed. I feel strongly that we are to be the leader of the world, and a light unto them. We can not do this while bullying, oppressing, or excluding, nor can we do this by pursuing only our own interest. I get the strong impression that Democrats get this much more so than do Republicans. I think of Christ as having a big tent, as inviting all to join, and as including all people for the benefit of all people. Christ would not work to secure America
– Republican’s unconscionable behavior during health care reform. Memos were leaked in which Republican leadership actually instructed people to show up to town halls and make big ruckus in order to make it appear that people were generally more upset about the bill than they actually were. The lies and misdirection that came out, many of which some still believe, were intolerable. We had a chance to do something really great and Godly by providing universal health care to everyone. It was achievable, and Obama was ready to hear ideas from all sides and include them. I believe this, although if you spend much time watching Fox, you probably don’t. However, the really important public conversation couldn’t happen because Republicans saw it only as a chance to defeat the Dem’s and win the election. Insurance companies will continue to set record profits while denying care to those in need. Talk about death panels. This was good for Republicans, as evidenced in the recent election. It was not good for the people, or the company, and it was not a Godly act.
I could go on, but I won’t. Frankly, most of the people who will read it will either already hold these same positions, or will discount them as the delusional ravings of a liberal mind, the word “liberal” here being used to connote a sort of illness or infection… Just not worth the time. So, Mike, if you got this far, good on ya’. ;-)>
You’re not going to “get it”, because you’re completely immersed in a completely different world-view, you take information from other sources, and you have different presumptions. That’s OK, I don’t need you to understand. I need you to take it on faith that I’ve read the gospels and prayed and worried and have come to these conclusions based on what I have observed, and my interpretation of the light the gospels shed.
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