Alien Drums

I generally wait later in the election process to make my decision, but I’m pretty sure this time that I’m going with Barack Obama. Why? I’m not totally sure. Something is special about this man, and some things have changed inside me.

As for him, it’s not just how he speaks; it’s what he says. The stuff about change does not grab me at all. Change is neither good nor bad in and of itself. There is good change and there is bad change, and sometimes we can’t provide the proper anaylsis regarding the goodness or badness of a change until after some time has passed.

I do resonate with bringing hope to people who have little hope on the economic or social side of things. As a spiritual person, I find my greatest and most lasting hope beyond the realm of the political and believe that is where all genuine hope is found. But our government should provide a sense of hope within its realm of influence. We should have reason to hope that wars can be avoided if at all possible. We should have reason to hope that we can improve our personal or family economic position if we work hard and are frugal. We should have reason to hope that the judicial system will, in fact, be just. The most economically and socially deprived should, in the United States, be able to have hope in a better tomorrow.

And now about the change inside of me. I’m officially a Republican; I believe in individual freedom and in the importance of a free-market system. I also believe in government restraint; that it cannot solve every problem, that individual responsibility is important. That has not changed. But I also care deeply about the down and outs of society; I care because Jesus cared. I thought a “compassionate conservativism” could deliver on all fronts; I am now having my doubts. Caring for the least of these is more important than caring for the rich and richer.

Another thing also has happened; I’ve realized that my pro-life position isn’t being advanced by electing so-called pro-life candidates. I haven’t made abortion a trump issue in my choices, but it has been very important; and it hasn’t made any difference. I’ve sacrificed a lot of other caring and life-honoring positions in my desire to drastically limit abortions. It simply hasn’t mattered much, so it doesn’t make sense to make that the most important issue in making my choice of candidates. I’m still pro-life and believe a woman’s right to an abortion should be more severely limited in order to protect the rights of the child, especially those that have reached the stage of sustainable life.

So, enough said of a general sort. I recognize that I need to get specific about issues so that I can either better explain for support for Obama or change to support McCain.