The amount of moral political debate in the country right now scares me. When Presidents and other public officials make statements and decisions that impact thousands, millions of people... it frightens me that they are doing so using their religious beliefs as rhetoric supporting it. In a country where one is supposed to be respectful of other religons... its just downright sad.
I don't talk about politics much. Some say it is because I am ignorant. In reality, I don't talk it because the conversations generally don't ever lead to somewhere positive. People hold their beliefs very close to their heart, and fiercely protect them. God help anyone who disagrees.
I am upset by both sides of the political spectrum. My political belief structure has points that exist on both sides of the bi-partisan coin. However, I do weigh social politics as being heavier, as I see them as basic personal rights that are being debated. And logically, it just makes so sense to me that their is a debate. Christian, "moral" statements have no place in a legislative discussion - end of story.
I don't talk about politics much. Some say it is because I am ignorant. In reality, I don't talk it because the conversations generally don't ever lead to somewhere positive. People hold their beliefs very close to their heart, and fiercely protect them. God help anyone who disagrees.
I am upset by both sides of the political spectrum. My political belief structure has points that exist on both sides of the bi-partisan coin. However, I do weigh social politics as being heavier, as I see them as basic personal rights that are being debated. And logically, it just makes so sense to me that their is a debate. Christian, "moral" statements have no place in a legislative discussion - end of story.
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It interesting that Bush, who managed to evade the "morals" issue rather impressively during the 2000 campaign, seems to be leaping hand in glove with the Fundamentalist Christian leaders. The curious thing about this, to me at least, is that it may be admitting defeat. He may not be able to maintain the support of his rather sold-out party if he doesn't cowtow to the fundies. If he pulls farther right of center he is going to lose a LOT of moderate votes that he might otherwise have.
I think (hope?) that this is a small backlash against the liberal direction in which our society has been heading. Hey, BDSM and polyamory are concepts that aren't totally foreign to the mainstream anymore. In some circles the concepts don't even shock anyone (okay, so I hang with a bunch of damn perverts, but still...). People no longer talk about smoking pot in hushed tones, afraid that the DEA is gonna break down their doors.
Frankly, the conservative milieu is feeling threatened. They are losing support and they know it. Their backs are up against the wall. And nothing fights more fiercely than a rat when it's trapped...
Hence we get Coulter accusing us of "Treason" and so on. The less ground they hold, the louder they are gonna scream.
HOWEVER, ultimately, the "personal freedoms" spectrum seems to be swinging more our direction. The recent Supreme Court decision about sodomy laws being a good case in point... I think that ultimately this (the protection of marriage amendment, the fallacious assertion that our country was founded by Christians, etc.) is another kick from a dying cause.
This does NOT excuse anyone from making his or her voice heard at the polls each November. In fact, if we don't, the "moral" folks could gain headway. So even if sometimes it seems like you have to choose between two evils, brutal though it may be, you must be pragmatic. Weigh the issues and vote accordingly.
I know, it sucks. But it really does matter.
By the way, letters to Congress matter too. Really. I worked in advocacy for a long time, organizing grassroots letter-writing campaigns.
Hugs and stuff... hang in there.