Now the truth comes out. You are so anti-Bush that YOU are the one trying to redefine pro life. I am pro-life first and foremost, no matter how you try to cloud the issue to vote your politics.
There is no ‘truth’ to come out, I wear it on my sleeve. I vote against torture, I vote against slavery, I vote against unnecessary exploitation and I vote for social justice. I vote against euthanasia, I vote against abortion, but I also vote against starvation as well.
You see, I no longer convince myself that ‘pragmantic’ is good enough. I have accepted that Christ’s teachings are a model for life, not just wishful thinking or ‘too altruistic’ to be practical in the ‘real world’.
That means I now vote every aspect of my faith just as I try to live it. Am I perfect? Of course not, but I have reached a point in my life where I no longer try to rationalize not at least trying.
Pro-life is anti abortion, no matter how much you try to change the meaning so you can vote your way.
I think you and YADA seem to share the habit of projecting. Notice how YADA was so certain I was criticising conservatives. But, if you actually read the thread, it was all about YADA claiming the inherent superiority of conservatives. All that I did was point out that YADA’s own citation said the opposite, that religion was the great equalizer in giving, not politics.
Now take your case. I’ve said I’m for voting for Catholic values across the board and that pro life is best expressed by actually reducing abortions and euthanasia. You are the one that is assigning party affiliations and motives.
I have no particular hatred of GW Bush now. If anything, he helped me reconnect with my faith. Back in 2000 I did the usual ‘pragmatic vote for a Republican’ even though my gut told me he is not a man of my values.
You see, I know George’s ilk well. I objected to Vietnam because of my faith. But I still felt compelled to enlist and did two tours as a medic. So 2000 meant voting for not one, but two men, who fit a mold I have long despised - cowards who claimed to support a war they would not fight.
The turning point for me was probably 9/11. On 9/11 I told my employees they did not have to come in (or stay), but I went downtown and made a point of spending the day in my office - looking straight out my window, across the library and at the building that gets blown up in the movie INDEPENDANCE DAY. To my way of thinking, when we run and hide, terrorists win. Bush’s disappearing act that day, or his dazed MY PET GOAT video we saw later, surprised me not a wit. Though I did not vote for him in 2004, it was no surprise for me to see John Kerry furious on 9/11 about the congressional offices being shut down. As a fellow vet, who had also enlisted with doubts, I knew his sentiments were sincere.
Everything since then, Iraq, Katrina, the endless corruption scandals, has shown me the error of my ‘pragmatism’. We are called to do what is right, not what is seemingly expedient.
So I know vote for candidates who are as close to my faith as possible. I don’t care if they are bottom tier or not. A lot of folks aren’t there yet, but look what it has gotten them.
Abortions and poverty are trending the wrong way. Gay marriage is on the rise. We are in a state of war the President claims will be perpetual, and the party we have carried water for since Reagan is rewarding us, how? By running a bunch of abortionists with the family values of tom cats for President? By protecting pedophiles and sexual predators in their ranks? By profiteering from forced abortions in Saipan?
The way I see it, the GOP serves two masters. Big business and social conservatives. One has seen everything from deregulation and tax breaks, to the largest corporate profits in history. The way I see it, we get lip service.
I’ve decided that I, myself, will no longer serve two masters. Others, like you, seem to want to argue that serving one is like serving the other.
It is not my place to judge, but I think you are wrong. Sooner or later I believe you are going to have to pick the one you love most, just as the GOP has shown us which master it truly defers to. The biggest reason I believe what I do is your concern about the definition of pro life.
Think about it, you are complaining that I am expanding the definition of pro life to include euthanasia, poverty related death among children, and,
gasp, actually reducing the number of abortions instead of just talking about them…
Please, read EVANGELIUM VITAE - Gospel of Life. Tell me how it is somehow fair to expand pro life in a Catholic context. Expansion is no problem to me, since I now vote all my values. If it is a problem for you, perhaps you should ask yourself why.