I've been pretty vocal about my stand in the Republican primary elections lately. Some people seem to think that just because I am so very much against Rick Santorum, I don't hold Christian values. This post is to clear that up. And it's long, so get comfortable.
I was saved in a Methodist church when I was seven years old. I can take you back to the very place I prayed. Soon after that, my family left the Methodist denomination and joined a baptist church, where I was taught pretty "normal" baptist views, and I became very comfortable. I loved my youth group and was very involved there. Then when I was fourteen, the church split. I remember the day the congregation voted, and I vividly remember the tears running down my face when we left that church for the last time. After that, we floated around a bit before we landed in a church full of the biggest hypocrites I have ever encountered, and that might be an understatement. The preacher directed messages AT certain people in the congregation, and I hated it. But I went because my parents made me, and I fell into place there regardless.
I am not claiming I was perfect. Actually, I was far from it. When I left the one church at 14, I lost touch with God for a long while, and I made some pretty stupid mistakes. Public ones. A few times. But even during the darkest times, I still knew I was a Christian, and I knew God was with me no matter what I did.
I graduated soon enough, and was free to interpret the world as I saw it, for once. This is where a lot of my questions came into play. For example, I was taught that being gay was a sin- it was wrong, "disgusting", immoral, etc. But once I left my sleepy hometown, I met quite a few gays, and was somewhat surprised to discover that not only were they not disgusting, but they were not very different from me, except that they loved someone of the same gender. They were-gasp!- normal. Some of them became my friends. It did not take long for me to shake the "guidelines" of the Baptist church and guide myself by what I knew to be true from personal experience: that I believed in God, and my God was a God of LOVE. Sure, I believed in right and wrong, but I came to understand that judging others is not any other person's place. We're all a little different, and who was to say that my different was any more moral than another's? Past that, I didn't have any other opinions on religion. I shed it completely and found my own personal place of peace: in my agape God.
That was all to let you know where I stand as I go into this next political part.
I don't consider myself a Democrat nor a Republican, just as I don't consider myself any sort of religious denomination. I base my opinions and vote solely on the candidates running for office, and whether or not I agree with what they're saying and trying to do.
I have never been a fan of Obama. I thought it was absurd that people were so hyped up because he was going to be the first colored President, as if skin color is any sort of reason to vote for the leader of this great country. I don't like him because he manipulates facts to make it look like he's done more than what he actually has. For example, in his State of the Union address this year, he claimed he has created 3 million jobs since he took office, which is only partially true. What he failed to mention is that 5 million jobs were lost during that same time frame. For all you math majors out there, that is a total of -2 million jobs to Obama's credit. Obama also promised, during his 2008 campaign, to cut our country's deficit in half. He has nearly doubled it in just four years.
When Bill Clinton was in office, our country had a surplus for the first time in history. Here we are, twenty years later, and we are 17 TRILLION dollars in debt. Now, I am aware that this is not all Obama's fault. A great sum of this could be credited to George W. Bush and the war he proclaimed on Iraq. While we're on that subject, I don't think that W. made an entirely wrong decision there. A group of terrorist flies planes into our government buildings and we're supposed to do nothing? Negative. I completely, 100% agree that we should have taken action against Al Quieda. Maybe not the entire country of Iraq and its citizens, but Al Quieda for sure.
A lot of people have stated their support for Obama because he killed Osama bin Laden. Let me be clear- our President did no such thing. Our President sat in his office. A team of skilled and very brave Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden. Obama might have "helped" by offering his support when the military officers reported the intelligence that our brave troops have gathered, but Obama did not kill bin Laden.
So- what do we do about this mess we're in? The natural answer seems obvious- we get a new President, right? But who? Who do we nominate as worthy of taking on the role as leader of our country? The Republican party has put up four different candidates- Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich.
If I didn't hate hypocrisy so much, I might like Newt. Newt Gingrich stands on stages and podiums and claims that gays "violate the sanctity of marriage". In the same breath, he is guilty of cheating on his wife multiple times and asking her for an "open marriage". WHAT! Am I the only one who sees a problem here? Anyone who has been exposed as a cheater has no room to condemn others. I believe the correct term is "the pot calling the kettle black". For this reason, I cannot stomach Newt Gingrich.
Ron Paul has made public statements that have showed that he is racist. But more important are his statements about war, foreign policy, and more. He is in favor of withdrawing America from the U.N.- our most valuable allies. He wants to withdraw the U.S. from the Anit-Ballistic Missile Treaty. He supports the electoral college and believes America is not a democracy. He believes that law enforcement is basically useless. He sponsored the Marriage Protection Act. He voted to eliminate all family planning funds... The list goes on and on.
Then there's Santorum. I could probably write a whole post about why I hate this guy, but I'll try to summarize. Like I said earlier, I believe that our God is a God of LOVE. Rick Santorum is coming out with all sorts of judgements and stances against certain rights, and he is using "God" as a reason to support his radical stances. He claims that he is a Christian, but he is passing out judgements left and right. Not only is he judging, but he wants to make his personal beliefs the LAW. Santorum has publicly proclaimed a war on gays, pushing the ban of gay marriage and is in favor of criminalizing gay sex. I already stated where I stand on the gay thing. The fact that someone could say who has the right to marry another, no matter how much they love each other, is appalling to me. Neil Patrick Harris has been with David Burtka for eight years, but they can't get married. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian can have a 10 million dollar wedding that results in a 72 day marriage and it's okay. Anyone else see a problem here?
Santorum also wants to criminalize certain sex acts, abortion, and ban contraception. As a female, I have a problem with the abortion thing. No, I do not personally believe that abortion is the right decision. But moreso than I believe that, I believe that every female has the right to choose what happens in her own body. I do not believe that a zygote is a human, and I do not believe that it's anyone else's decision to make except the woman that is having to deal with the situation.
Now, onto the contraception/sex thing. Yes, I am going to talk about sex. Go ahead and get it out of your system. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. Santorum claimed that "contraception is just wrong. Sex is an act for procreation. If you strip that away, then it's solely for...pleasure." (He said pleasure with a disgusted look on his face.) Now, I am married; I can talk about sex. Get ready: I have sex with my husband! We enjoy sex. I believe God created sex for a man and wife to enjoy each other, to bond with each other on a more intimate level, and to just flat out have fun and get a release from the stress the rest of the day may bring. For Rick Santorum to try to criminalize certain sex acts (sodomy) would grant law enforcement the freedom to come into our bedroom. I looked up the definition of sodomy, for those of you who are disgusted and thinking about anal sex right now. Did you know that sodomy also includes oral copulation? As in, oral sex? Be honest here- how many of YOUR husbands/partners would be happy if this was to become illegal? Would you be happy?! I could go on, but I won't... mostly because Tyler is going to think this is an overshare already.
My husband and I have two wonderful, beautiful children. We're happy. We also do not want any more kids. I believe that contraception is our right (and any woman's right, for that matter) to make decisions about our future.
One last note on Santorum: He doesn't believe in contraception. He doesn't believe in sex for any other reason than procreation. He wants to criminalize oral sex. I feel sorry for his poor, poor wife.
Mitt Romney seems the lesser of the evils to me. People seem to dislike him because he's rich, but he has worked hard for the money he has. We need a President who understands how the economy works; Romney does. He was criticized for paying 15% taxes, but he also donated 15% of his income last year to charity. (Obama donated 1%, and our vice president Biden gave $376 to charity last year.) Romney also, like myself, is personally against abortion but doesn't believe the government should interfere with such decisions. He does not believe in the ban of contraception. He supported gays openly serving in our military. He has openly claimed that the gay community needs more support from the Republican party.
I'm not preaching Mitt Romney, but I'll vote for him over Obama any day of the week.
So in conclusion, the Jesus I know preached love and acceptance, not hatred and judgement. Therefore, I do not believe it's the government's place to try to play God. I also believe it's time for a change- and not the false promises of "change" that Obama promised four years ago.
Vote! It matters!
