Response to 'Single Issue Voter'

This entry is in response to http://the-blog-of-truth.blogspot.com/2008/09/single-issue-voter.html

Not surprisingly, many of the things that are on your list also exist on mine

The economy – financial crisis – mortgage / wall street
The economy and taxes – size of federal government
The two major ongoing wars – Iraq / Afghanistan
Energy and the environment
Homeland security / Immigration
Foreign policy
HealthcareVeterans, seniors and social security

However you will notice one glaring difference between the two lists. Faith and Family values are removed. They don't belong there. They are not and should not be motivators for how our country should be run. They are subjective opinions that change based upon the circumstances and interpretation by individual people.

Every other issue you mention in your list is generally objective. Foreclosure rates can be measured. The effects on the environment can be scientifically studied. Healthcare and benefits to Veterans and seniors can be statistically understood. Etc, etc. The only thing on your list that can't be measured scientifically or statistically is Faith and Family values. and that's because they are subjective. Your idea of faith is different from your neighbors. They are even different then many of your neighbors who consider themselves Christian. They are different from mine.

You can't state what a family value is precisely, you can only state what your own personal values are based upon your intuition, intellect or faith. They can and do vary from person to person. You might say a family value is 'Teach kids abstinence' and mine may be 'Teach them about birth control'. They are both different, yet they are both 'family values'.

The government does not belong in our personal lives. It only takes a moment to try and look at it from the other point of view to realize that trying to instill your personal values and religious beliefs on others is both wrong and immoral, regardless of those beliefs. Suppose that instead of a predominately Christian nation this was a nation where 90% of its citizens were atheist or agnostic. Would you want the pledge changed to say 'one nation, without a god' or would you take the stand that people shouldn't have their beliefs trampled on by the government? My faith is not your faith. My values may not be your values. However we both united in the right to express and hold those values, and it is in the best interest of both of us to keep the government out of them.

On to abortion...

There is nothing in the Bible which states that abortion is wrong or immoral. There is nothing that says 'Life begins at conception'. In fact the word abortion doesn't appear in the bible at all. The closest quote is 'thou shalt not kill' and the word for kill in hebrew in the 6th Commandment is rasach, which more accurately means "murder," or illegal killing judged harmful by the community. Even though a commandment, many forms of killing were considered legal. If fact, god often commanded Israel to kill on some occasions. (ex. In I Samuel 15:3, God ordered Saul to massacre the Amalekites: "Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants…")

So if the bible doesn't mention abortion, is there anything in jewish law that would indicate that abortion is murder or that life begins at conception? Actually, jewish law is quiet clear on the subject:

"an embryo is not reckoned a viable living thing (in Hebrew, bar kayama) until thirty days after its birth. One is not allowed to observe the Laws of Mourning for an expelled fetus. As a matter of fact, these Laws are not applicable for a child who does not survive until his thirtieth day."

So the bible doesn't mention abortion and jewish law says that even a full term infant isn't a person until 30 days after its birth. Doesn't sound like there is much biblical support for the position. From this its quiet clear that your own beliefs on abortion and life are completely subjective and opinions of what you 'think' (or what others have told you) god meant or would mean. At best you try to infer god's mind based upon your own interpretation of the bible. However since it is an interpretation, it is an opinion by definition!

The issue of abortion, regardless of how much you try to simplify it with a 'its against the bible' approach is a large, complex issue with a lot of grey area. What about in the case of rape? What if it would kill the mother? What about incest? You want to state that life begins at conception, but I personally don't see a few cells as being on the same level as a new born infant. Should it be considered alive when it can survive outside the womb? That's changing every day with medical advances. It is multi faceted and to even try and trivialize this as wrong or immoral based upon the words of men who lived 4000 years ago, prior to every known medical and scientific advancement since then, would require me to shut off my brain. Sorry, but I only do that for attractive women, and that's because I don't have enough blood to serve both my brain and my peter. I don't even really need that much blood for the latter. (or the former for that matter)

Finally, your response that 'everyone' is a single issue voter is a non-sequitur. What if McCain was pro-abortion but also a supporter of the Taliban? Aren't you now a two issue voter? Anyone can take an extreme position about something any sane person would not tolerate and say 'if your candidate was for torturing infants would you vote for him' and everyone would say no. That doesn't mean that suddenly you only care about that one thing. Everyone has multiple things they care about. Some care about some things more then others. You're right I wouldn't vote for the candidate saying he was going to raise my taxes to 85%, but since no one is talking about doing that, is it really even worth discussing?

People shouldn't base their votes on 'Family Values' or faith. Allow people to believe what they want or need to believe. Base your vote on who is going to be best for the country. If you believe that the current Republican administration, who ran unchecked for 6 of its 8 year term and was able to pass any bill or law it wanted to; that invaded a foreign country (Iraq) without cause or provocation at an estimated cost of $3 trillion; that championed deregulation that has led to the collapse of most major financial institutions is what is best for this country, then by all means, vote for they guy who agreed with that approach 90% or more. You may even get me praying that there are enough people to vote the other way.