Monday, September 8, 2008

ok i've waited as long as i could

I have avoided jumping on the political blog bandwagon, but events and comments over the last week or so have pushed me straight to said bandwagon.

Today I emailed several people asking if they thought Jesus was a liberal or conservative (or neither - perhaps something else). This came about because of political ads about liberals about politicians I don't even know and more personal comments regarding whether or not I am too liberal.

First let me note that liberal and conservative are relative terms. If I am more traditional than you, you would describe me as a conservative while someone who is even more traditional would describe me as liberal. The division of the world into "liberal" and "conservative" is kind of restrictive. It has to be one way or the other. We define everything as either liberal or conservative even though it is difficult to even define these terms.

On many issues I would probably describe myself as conservative. But I am quite sure I do not want to be lumped in that group if the picture of conservative is Sarah Palin. What a scary thought! So scary that someone today said that they would spend the next several months praying Obama is elected, but if for some reason McCain becomes president, they would have to spend the next 4 years praying for his good health and long life. Perhaps that is why McCain selected Palin - so all of us would be praying that Palin has no opportunity for becoming president.

Please people!!!! I do not believe a mother has to stay home with her children to be a good mother. But I do wonder if she has had time to adjust to life with a special needs child. And I wonder why the same conservative people who have for years said that the problem with society is that moms care more about their careers than staying home to raise their children now think that it is admirable for Palin to work outside the home. I do not fault her for having a unwed pregnant teenage daughter. But I do think she is extremely selfish to throw that daughter under the bus of a media frenzy. Being 17 is tough. Being 17 and pregnant is tougher. Being 17, pregnant and have the whole world watching your every move has got to be hell. You have to think Palin knew that the world would find out and it would be a big story. But the advancement of her political career was more important than her daughter. So is she just so selfish she did not care? Or is she one of those tough love kind of moms? You know - you got yourself into this mess so you will just have to deal with the consequences. Or was she really so naive that she did not think it would be a big deal? Any of these options make for a scary leader of our country.

Scary is seeing the after-convention bump in the McCain/Palin ticket in the polls. Scary is listening to people still justifying this war. Now it is not about weapons of mass destruction. It is not even about oil. It is a religious war. That was not the stated policy when we went to war. But recently I have had people tell me that the war in Iraq is a religious war - because all Muslims want to kill Christians. And Sarah Palin has stated that it is God's war - God's plan. Really? God planned the invasion? It would be nice to think that somebody had a plan, but I think God is smart enough to have a better plan.

So people can think I am too liberal if they want. I would rather be too liberal than some conservative crazy religious right selfish stupid bitch. Perhaps that seems harsh. But I think she has popped up on the scene as a pompous, self-righteous, self-absorbed diva.

Please people. Comment on this? Is the war God's plan? Is Palin an admirable woman or lunatic? I would love to read your thoughts.

2 comments:

kevin said...

hmmm.

i guess i'll have to wait to judge palin after i've heard her say something that wasn't written for her to speak at a convention, but i fear that she is a little out of her league.

i thought your email about jesus and his politics was an interesting thought, but i am pretty sure that anyone could scripture-rip and prove their point if they wanted to. i know i could.

i think we'll hear sermons along the lines of that question as we get closer to the election, and that'll be a shame if it's not handled properly. i don't think i've ever thought of jesus having a slanted agenda. i've just thought of him having one simple message of god's love and that message being his driven motivation.

obviously, back in his day just like it would be in our day, i think people would see him as an extremist or a lunatic, but it doesn't change the message.

you know where i stand on the "god's will" kind of stuff. i can only hope that once biden and palin face off, same with obama and mccain, that all of the "politics" will take a backseat to the conversation about the issues and people will make an educated decision depending on those answers and not commercials.

donnag said...

Oh that people would educate themselves on the issues and not erroneous emails and commercials.