Electioneering

Before I begin this discussion, I'd like to say a few things, I believe abortion is the termination of an unborn child's life, but that belief does not exist in a vacuum. The Gospel is a pillar of my identity, and it states pretty plainly that sin is a part of a fallen world, that grace abounds to overcome it, and that as Christians we are to be the imperfect example of Christ's grace to the world. You may have to refer back to this statement while reading along.

The question I've answered for myself (as I've already voted) and which I've continuously considered throughout this entire campaign, is as follows...

What changed between the last time I voted and now, and is my decision to vote for a Democratic candidate a denial of my faith, a sidestepping of it, or a response to newly felt convictions?

In the last election I voted for George W. Bush, I did so mainly because of the moral issue of abortion. I believed that because the Democratic party supported a woman's right to choose over protecting the life of an unborn child I could not vote for a Democratic candidate. I cast my vote for Bush in an action I look back on as being done with almost total disinterest. I think when we make choices, though they may line up with a stock morality, lacking a passion and regeneration of the heart, we're slowly killing our faith.

I didn't want to re-elect Bush, but I didn't know anything about John Kerry, and when you don't know anything about someone, you'll believe anything someone you agree with says about them.
I don't know if I should have voted for Kerry or not, I'd have been in a better position to complain about Bush in the ensuing years.

Fast forward four years, and I'm hearing about this upstart young candidate Barack Obama. His rhetoric about the economy, the last eight years, the war, and a need for personal responsibility in the American individual and the American family all resonated strongly with me.

Was I sucked in by his charisma and slick speech making? Not really, I didn't hear him speak until the Democratic National Convention, everything I learned about him I read online.

As I became more and more interested in him, and the idea of voting for him (early on I was hoping for Rudy Gulianni to win the Republican nomination) I ran into the same issue that pushed me towards Bush in 2004.

Abortion is a sensitive issue, one that, while I line up with the pro-lifers, the way this belief has been brought out of the monastery and into the marketplace has always saddened me.

Christians in America, especially ones who vocalize to the media, seem more like the Pharisees of the early church days than the disciples of Jesus.

Some things I read early on that Obama had said: That He could not support the banning of abortion for religious reasons, as it would conflict with the separation of church and state, that abortion is a moral issue and a choice that no one wants to make, that the family needs to be the primary influence on any decision surrounding abortion instead of the courts.

I believe that you cannot legislate morality and change the hearts of men and women. I believe the instrument of change to impact abortion is the reclamation of the family. That starts with a call to responsibility and accountability, a call that Obama was making.