ThinkDeep

I recently posted my thoughts on a Catholic Bishop endorsing McCain for president solely based on Obama’s stance on abortion.

I got the following response.  Let me first say that I appreciate the writer taking time to respond.

You seem to imply there is something wrong if a babykilling abortion mill is burned or bomb. Which do you prefer, a pile of bricks or a pile of dead babies? Innocent unborn babies deserve to be protected just as born children deserve to be protected. You would have no problem protecting born children if they were about to be murdered.

SAY THIS PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I am a sinner and am headed to eternal hell because of my sins. I believe you died on the cross to take away my sins and to take me to heaven. Jesus, I ask you now to come into my heart and take away my sins and give me eternal life.

First, there is something wrong with burning or bombing such a building, especially if there are people in it.  Two wrongs do not make a right.

Second, we cannot fix everything in the world.  Evil exists and it results in people doing evil things.  And if any one attempts to fix some such situation by perpetrating a different evil, that person has not achieved anything worthwhile at all.  How much evil has been done where a person had good intentions?

Third, I am not arguing that there should be more abortions.  I wish there were none.  I am questioning what strategy we use to get there.  I believe in changing minds and hearts, not laws.  In my mind, this is a special case because of the biological intertwining of the life of the mother and the baby she is carrying.

Lastly, the writer makes assumptions about my faith and beliefs.  This is not a discussion about me.  It is a discussion about a divisive issue in our society.  Taking a discussion to a personal level, even if that level is not threatening, makes it harder to advance the discussion itself.

It was not so much a case of an endorsement of McCain but more of an anti-endorsement of Obama.  The bishop is claiming that Catholics should not vote for Obama because he holds a particular view on the abortion issue.  Most people who hold abortion to be the only important issue want the procedure banned by law.  I am not here to debate whether a life is a life before birth or not.  In my view it is.  I have three children and I treated each of them as a person from before they were born.  So let’s not make this a case where I want abortions.  I do not.  However, I draw the line when it comes to making a law against it.  Those that do not want this to be banend by law frequently frame the other side as being pro-abortion.  I know several people who don’t want abortion to be illegal.  The sense I get is that they understand that it is a tragedy each time one happens.  But they do not feel it is their place to tell someone else what they should do.  Now that we are clear that virtually no one wants abortions we can move on.

George W. Bush was anti-abortion.  And he caused a million Iraqi deaths.  Is this not a sin as well?  Is torturing a prisoner a sin?  I could go on.  My point, of course, is that if you embrace one truth above all others, that truth becomes a falsehood.  You don’t believe me?  If a person is anti-abortion, what would they do?  Would they bomb an abortion clinic?  Would they lie?  And if they did despicable things to achieve their goal, do they not become the evil they despise?

And so we come to the bishop.  I don’t see how I could possibly follow someone that narrow minded.  Electing a president encompases much more than where that candidate stands on a single issue.  Additionally, in my view, church figures should stay out of elections.  They have a responsibility to be the public conscience.  But they should never go so far as to endorse a specific candidate.  There are many moral issues and it is unlikely that any one candidate is a saint and the other a devil.

Yesterday I went to vote. I took my son and his friend who were both voting for the first time. It took us two hours to vote. As the two of them made some comments I felt the need to instill the right mindset. I told them that while one may have a different view or opinion of another person or group, it is important to be respectful. That is the actual strength of this system. We can have our opinions and they get settled by an election.

I came across this in an email.

Pass this around so true Dems are dumb socialists

I’m voting Democrat because I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

I’m voting Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I’ve decided to marry my horse.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

I’m voting Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

I’m voting Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they’re doing because they now think we’re good people.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe that people who can’t tell us if it will rain on Friday CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don’t start driving a Prius.

I’m voting Democrat because I’m not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see fit.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would NEVER get their agendas past the voters.

I’m voting Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my @#% it’s unlikely that I’ll ever have another point of view.

“A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don’t own”.

There could be a whole book written on the subjects raised in this email.  I’m not going to do that today.  The only point I want to make is to notice the tone of the message.  It expresses some level of anger and frustration on the part of the writer.  It is, unbecoming.  Perhaps it gives the writer some satisfaction.  Perhaps it gives some level of comfort to some who read it.  However, I have always believed that one need not attempt to tear down someone else in order to elevate yourself.

More importantly, these thoughts show an “old-think” process.  It is the idea that we can put people into these one word buckets like liberal or conservative.  That is an old way of seeing the world and the people in it.

Back in 2000, I knew someone who was a self-described Republican treated me to a little victory song after they had made significant political gains.  I thought then that it was bad taste and I still do today.

Any sensible person would know that Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and Independents all have some good ideas.  There is no good guy and bad guy.  These major parties have each banded their supporters together each for their own benefit.  That means it is a package deal.  No matter which way you turn, you get some good and some bad.  And it would seem, that Democrats, for the moment, have a better overall deal.

This election season is almost over.  We have eight days to go.  Things will heat up some this week.  And then we will have a result.  It would be foolish to think that this is a done deal.  Whatever the outcome, let’s all try to be respectful and realize that this is serious stuff.  If your team wins, don’t gloat.  Be inclusive.  If your team loses, be ready to hold those who won accountable as we move forward.