The 2012 Democratic Platform

Direct quotes.  Extremely important passages for Christians to consider, hot off the presses:

Protecting A Woman’s Right to Choose. The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. Abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor, and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way. We also recognize that health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions. We strongly and unequivocally support a woman’s decision to have a child by providing affordable health care and ensuring the availability of and access to programs that help women during pregnancy and after the birth of a child, including caring adoption programs ...

Freedom to Marry. We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.

We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act. 

Wow, so states that have passed amendments, reiterating the historic definition of the marriage relationship, have acted in a "discriminatory" manner?  I wonder what that says about the Christian Faith, which has defined marriage in the same way as those states for 2,000 years, or Judaism which did so for some 1,800 years prior to that. (I notice how they "support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer their sacraments ... " but that just seems to be a polite nod to those backward, discriminatory religious people.)

You know, people can object to various elements in the Republican platform.  (As an independent, I have no qualms doing so.)  Christians can honestly debate size of government, budgets, economic plans, student loans, etc., etc.  What we cannot do is cast a vote for a candidate who opposes God's Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," a candidate who opposes "any and all efforts to weaken or undermine" the killing of one million unborn children every year through abortion.  There is no other issue or cluster of issues that outweighs abortion!  It is an intrinsically evil act, a mortal sin, an absolute deal-breaker.  

I am no fan of Mitt Romney, but I am unaware of any point in his party's platform that directly contradicts one of the Commandments, or that refers to the understanding of marriage shared by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists as "discriminatory."

Does this have some bearing on why the suggestion to reinstate "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel"  and an acknowledgment of "GOD"  into the Democratic Platform was met with boos and required three votes?   You can see it for yourself (click here):

In my quest to distance more friends ...

So I went against my desire to be liked and commented on a friend's Facebook post.  She's a wonderful young woman; her father is a Protestant minister, and she has always been a passionate follower of Jesus.  It has been several years since we went to college together or have seen each other face-to-face for a conversation. I've seen her FB posts supporting President Obama who, given his history of supporting abortion and his attack on the religious freedom of Catholics, I am not a fan of; but I haven't said anything.  Her post this evening was different though.

She shared a link to a blogpost, 7 Things Every Christian Should Know About Politics, along with the statement that she both loves Jesus and is a Democrat and how those two things are not mutually exclusive.  Now, I am most definitely not saying that they are; BUT I do believe that it's morally wrong to vote for a candidate who works to keep abortion legal in the U.S. and/or export it to other countries.  Also, my stomach turns when I read a political platform that includes working to keep abortion legal.  I do not belong to either of the two main political parties in the United States, but it is clear to me the way I need to vote.  Sorry for the tirade.  Let me get back to that blogpost, 7 Things.  The points, in and of themselves, are quite good (although I disagreed with one or two of the author's explanatory comments).  Here they are:

1. Democrats go to church too.
2. Political talk radio and cable "news" only want ratings.
3. Those who argue over politics don't love their country more than others.
4. Thinking your party's platform is unflawed is a mistake.
5. Scripture tells us to pray for our governing leaders (2 Tim.2:1-4) and to respect those in authority (Rom.13:1-7).
6. Don't be paranoid.
7. When you promise to leave the country if your party loses, follow through.  (People will respect you.)

See, nothing there for a Catholic-Christian to be upset by.  But then the gentleman added a bonus point, with commentary:

8.  Stop saying, “This is the most important election in the history of our nation.”  It’s not. The most important election in the history of our nation was when Abraham Lincoln was elected President. Before that, we thought it was okay to own people.

I bet you know what my mind went to.  At the risk of offending my friend, I had to comment below her FB  link to the blog article:

I think he was doing fairly well until he threw in the bonus with #8. By bringing up the election of Lincoln and the subsequent reversal of the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford he brings to mind the parallel decision in Roe v. Wade and the 53 million Americans since then who were denied their fundamental right to life. With a president's power to appoint members of the Court, every election since that time is extremely important - as are Congressional elections. I don't belong to either party, but my vote must go to the candidates and party that will bring us closer to overturning legal abortion - just as if I lived at the time of Lincoln's election my love for Jesus would have bound me, despite every other issue at stake in that election, to cast my vote for the candidate and party moving toward freeing people of African descent from slavery (their recognition as human beings with fundamental rights). There is room for legitimate disagreement among Christians regarding political policies and budgets, etc.; but the lives of a million children a year is not one of them. Until that fundamental issue is resolved, there does seem to be a very clear choice between party platforms. 

Will it bear good fruit?  Please ask the Lord that it does.