Hope Road

Amen. This issue is most definitely significant in voting.

I think it is important to note that not only from a legislative and policy-oriented perspective is someone who endorses the murder of innocent children (in a brutal and utterly inhumane method, no less!) unfit for office, but such a person is morally unfit for the office.

Society…is a partnership between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are yet to be born. - Edmund Burke

Maybe if there was a candidate that was consistently pro-life then I could justify single-issue voting on the “life” issue. But when people who demand the protection of babies also support the massacre of innocents overseas, the torture of human beings, the murder of wrong-doers, and institutionalize oppression and poverty worldwide to say they are pro-life is so big of a joke its not even funny. I’m am strongly opposed to abortion but I don’t pretend to believe that caring about abortion means a candidate cares about life or chooses to love others.

Julie, we actually discussed that at length in my post Fetus Fatigue. I encourage you to check that out.

Read your Edmund Burke quote again, and then explain how you can justify asking people to not vote at all, like you did in the Fetus Fatigue post. That seems an awful lot like good men doing nothing.

Yup, what a wonderful world this would be if candidates were disqualified for upholding abortion! Until that day, matters so trivial in the grand scheme of things, will hold center stage and our land will go on being indifferent to the cries of the helpless. .

Amy, I would think that the quote is flawed in one way. Since doing something could be doing something good or bad, doing something isn’t always the right thing to do.

In this case, voting for someone who is pro-choice actually lends support to a person that has the chance to use executive orders to spread abortion. At least if I didn’t vote the news would include that only a small percentage of registered voters actually backs the candidate.

I still think we need more candidates and to get away from a two-party system.

As a g*ay man, I initially thought that I would vote for the candidate who supported g*ay rights more, but in the past few years I have realized that I am not a single issue voter. It seems also that I am not alone on this. The Washington Blade recently reported on a Human Rights Campaign survey that reported that about 25 percent of the g*ay. l*sbian, and bis*xual voters that responded said that the economy and jobs are the most important issues. Another 24 percent said that health care was the most important and 18 percent put Iraq as their top concern. Others voters chose taxes and government spending or the environment and global warming as their biggest concern. Only 21 percent of respondents made g*ay rights/marriage their top issue.

Jos76

That’s interesting, Jos76. I think that there are a lot of important issues, but I don’t think you’ll find many that are as important as life– the life of the next generation, our children.

It’s the fact that pro-lifers believe that abortion takes lives and that lives are sacred that seems to transcend how we’ll spend our money and everything else.

Very interesting post, I know that I’m a little late to respond but I thought I might as well add my two cents. I am very much appalled at the prevalence of abortion in western society. Here is a really good website and group that deals with abortion.

http://bound4life.com/

But politically it is in my opinion very unwise to become a single issue voter. Even though undoubtedly abortion is the ultimate issue in each election until it is abolished. If there is a massive group of pro-life single issue voters the pro-life party that they nominate will actually not want to eliminate abortion because then they lose a huge voting block that was supporting them. It’s a tough dilemma.

I’ve spend many many hours outside abortion clinics praying and giving the gospel and lovingly pleading with young mothers and fathers to reconsider. And I think that the blood of the innocent is definitely crying out against this land. But when we move in the political realm we have to be pragmatic and practical like Wilberforce and William Carey. Prayer and perseverance and media campaigns and whatever it takes to draw the public on our side against this modern holocaust will ultimately be far more effective than simply not voting for either side.