Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Bush debate notes...and why the Christian Coalition rocks my world!

He was scribbling away last Wednesday night, gathering his thoughts and preparing for his next response. So what on earth was Bushie writing? Facts and figures? Witty comebacks? A shopping list? Well, someone thought the American public needed to know, so the notes were swiped, put on the internet, and we can all see for ourselves. Pretty cool, don't you think?

Speaking of politics, the wacky folks at the Christian Coalition hit the campus this weekend, sticking brochures in the windshield wipers of all of us freaks with Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers. At first I was pissed; I'm not a fan of these people. They dare to call themselves "pro-Family," but what I think what they really do is pressure our leaders to legislate morality and abuse the name of God for their own personal agendas. I didn't want their stupid glossy three-page tract, full of candidate-by-candidate comparisons and a scoresheet telling us who to vote for. But then I took a second glance...and the magic happened right before my very eyes: there were all of the Ohio candidates for the house and senate, and a breakdown of where they stand. Who's against the Federal Marriage Amendmant, who opposes overturning Roe v. Wade, who thinks gun control is a good idea, and who doesn't want to drain public schools of the money they so desperately need by pouring funding into voucher programs...organized into neat little color-coded columns. What an awesome coincidence! I'm new to Ohio, you know, and as I ponder who (besides Kerry) to vote for, I've been wondering how to find out which candidates are pro-choice, pro-gun control, and non-homophobic. And holy cow, the answers appeared right on dirty windshield of my truck--highlighted in red, no less! So thanks, Christian Coalition. Since you've done all of the research for me, I can spend more time with my gay friends, or even worse, surfing that evil Campaign for Women's Lives site.

Seriously, I get both angry and depressed when groups like this try and convince people that if they dissent, then they can't really be Christian. A lot of folks would probably read my little blog and dub me the antichrist. But I'm proud to be a Christian Liberal--and yeah, there is such a thing. There are those of us out there who are sick of distilling Christianity into two issues: abortion and who should have the right to get married. We care about crazy, offbeat stuff like poverty, job losses, the number of Americans without health care, and the racial divide in this country. We have this wild idea in our head that Jesus would never support unwarranted war, corporate outsourcing, or tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. I can't plug the Sojourners website enough--Jim Wallis is out there telling American that we know voting for Bush isn't validation of our love of God. We're here, we're organized, and we're voting. The best thing we can do is let our voices be heard and refuse to blindly follow.

And so ends the babble for today. I'm bored, hungry, and off to find a cookie.
-pg

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