Tinychat

In thinking, researching, and debating on how to vote this election day, I've come to a conclusion - I've become a one issue voter. Yes, it ends up being the same issue that many Christians vote for, but let me explain my reasoning because it actually has very little to do with religion. This one issue is why I voted for McCain, not because I really think he'll be the best president ever, but because I don't want Obama as my president.

Let me explain:
I am very much pro-life, for one basic reason - if no one is sure when life actually begins, I would really prefer to err on the side of safety when it comes to what we do with human life. I look at it in much the same way as our court system looks at a person's life before declaring them guilty of a crime - it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. When it comes to a baby's life, if it is so hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they aren't alive yet, so I will always say we play it safe and allow that life to continue. (But is it really that difficult to know the answer?)

Here's my issue with politics in this area. I know that it really doesn't matter what the President actually wants as far as laws for and against abortion go, but to me it provides a moral compass in two ways: First, it demonstrates a value of human life, and secondly, it provides a basis of consistency.

For length's sake, I'm going to leave the first one alone even though I know Obama supporters would claim that he holds human life just as dear as anyone else - even though I would say his voting record shows otherwise.

I think the bigger issue is that Obama's stance shows a tremendously illogical philosophy that is designed to get votes, not to actually stand on values and morality. It doesn't matter what religion you believe in, or what God you follow, or any of that - the philosophical imbalance demonstrated shows Obama's character very clearly. The person revealed is not someone I desire as president.

Let me demonstrate my issues with Obama's words:

Issue one - when does life begin?
Q: Do you personally believe that life begins at conception?
A: This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don't presume to know the answer to that question. What I know is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates.
Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008

Ok, I can understand that to some degree - I'm not sure when life begins, but the potential of life is very powerful. Personally, if I were going to take a stab at it, I'd say that potential life becomes pretty definite once the heartbeat starts...it's easy to point at that and say, "That's a living organism".

However, for someone who is completely unsure of when life begins, Obama seems pretty quick to be willing to snuff out that potential life. He talks a lot about reducing the need for abortions by increasing the awareness of contraceptives (That's right kids, have all the sex you want because it's safe...most of the time!) but when it comes to actually reducing the legality of abortions he consistently votes like someone who believes that life starts when the baby is actually born. Partial birth abortions are ok (although I would bet he would argue he voted against banning it to protect the health of mothers) and we really shouldn't require minors to have parental consent when they decide (in all of their pre-adult wisdom) that they need an abortion. He also talks a lot about leaving the moral decision in the hands of the woman involved, that they feel the full force of that weight and it should be up to them. I can see that point of view, I really can - but it's funny how we don't leave other serious moral issues like theft, murder or rape in the hands of people in general without having serious consequences. I really don't see where this issue is different when you talk about a human life - especially one in late term.

I would expect someone who is "unsure" of the beginning point of life to be a lot more careful in protecting it - the last thing I would expect is for that person to be one of the people who has been one of politics's biggest proponents for abortion. "Nobody is pro-abortion?" Then why does it seem that way?

That, my friends, is why I voted for McCain. I can't trust someone who doesn't stand on what be believes on such a foundational moral issue as the lives of our children...and I really can't trust someone who tries to fudge over the philosophical issues of what he believes to be right just so he can get the votes he wants. I also can't trust someone who doesn't value human life enough to firm up his convictions and beliefs about it - being unsure really doesn't cut it when you're running for President of the United States.

So even though it may seem like one issue voting, it really isn't - it's just that I can't trust where that candidate's moral compass is pointing.

This post could have been much, much longer - but here are posts from people much smarter than I who make very good points about this issue. What I read from these authors helped me realize that my gut reaction was absolutely correct when it comes to this presidential election.

Obama's voting record on abortion issues

A post from Randy Alcorn (a very respected Christian author - if you've never read his books I'd encourage you to check out Deadline)

The Illogic of Obama on Abortion

Abortion is About God (has good points even if you disagree with the premise...I really disliked the video style though)

Obama's Abortion Extremism

Sometimes I think my cats see me as a walking vending machine that dispenses food and water and then disposes of poop.

Sadly, if you have a toddler I bet they look at you the same way.

If you have a child older than that, they still look at you the same way, hopefully minus the poop part. Until they graduate college. I vote kick them out after that for sure, if not sooner.

Enjoy your life, I'm sticking with cats.

I've decided I'm tired of two things about my body - my "man boobs" and what is remaining of my spare tire. So I'm starting a new exercise routine, and I'm going to keep a log here of how I'm doing. Basically it consists of the 100 pushup program, ab crunches, and 30ish minutes on the elliptical machine. I don't have my weight today, but I've been floating around 192lbs. I'd like to get down to 185 for now, with the ultimate goal of either hitting 180 or being more muscular/less flabby so 185 is ok. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, tonight will be day 3 of the 100 pushups program. I'm enjoying it so far, it gives me some order and reason for what I'm doing. I was really, REALLY sore Tuesday, which was Day 2...I barely got through the required pushups. Today, I actually feel pretty good and am actually looking forward to the pushups tonight. 185, here I come!

Wish me luck!

Written in my journal last week:

I'm sitting here next to a lit candle, watching a thunderstorm pass by - everything in my house is unplugged, the power is flickering on and off, and I'm amusing myself by reading and watching my cats run from room to room, trying to escape the thunder. I feel sorry for them, because I can't get on their level to explain that the thunder isn't going to hurt them, there isn't any danger from the noise - it's just something awesome to behold and enjoy. I really feel sorry for people who are afraid of thunderstorms, I really love them - the raw power never ceases to amaze me.

It's funny what people are afraid of, don't you think? My friend Matt, for example, is afraid of spiders, to the point of not watching movies like Arachnophobia and getting creeped out by certain points of video games we play. My wife doesn't do horror movies at all, any thing with scary music does her in. Me, I'm scared of little kids. Not "real" kids that you see at church or school or whatever, but rather the ghost kids in some horror movies. *brrr*. On the other hand, every time we have a school performance I do think about what would happen if the kids realized that they outnumber us like three to one. How do you fight off 500 elementary students?

When I was a kid, I was afraid of all kinds of things. I bet it was pretty annoying for my parents! (In fact, now that I think about it, I bet a lot of things I did were pretty annoying.) I was really afraid of someone breaking into our house, and either stealing from us or killing us all (for no apparent reason, I don't think we had any "enemies"). I was afraid of staying alone at our house (mostly for the above reason), and I was tremendously afraid of the dark. We lived in a somewhat creepy house that made a lot of weird noises and had a very dark basement, so that didn't help much.

At some point I decided two things. A.) I would only live as long as God allowed me to live (although I still don't see this as an excuse not to wear a seatbelt - if you're that dumb God will allow you to come home early, if you know what I mean), and B.) I had to face my fears or be trapped by them.

I started walking around in the dark a lot, not turning on lights anytime I walked through a room. We had woods in our back yard, so I would go out there at night and walk around, convincing myself that there was nothing to be afraid of. Every time I saw a haunted house, I went to it. It's part of the reason that I always wanted to be in some kind of Halloween haunt, so I could face my fears and help others do the same (and lets face it, scaring people is fun anyway). That's really how the Haunted Plantation got started.

Now living in the dark has become second nature enough that Matt started calling me "Uncle Caveman". Once I moved into my own house, I generally never turned on lights at all (partly to avoid glare on any electronic screen, but whatever).

All of this has me thinking - what am I afraid of at this point in my life?




And how do I face my fears again?

Thanks Lisa :) I laughed for quite a while this morning...I hope you remember leaving it!

Oh, btw...can you translate for me?

The Voicemail of Epic Drunkenness



And how I envision Lisa this morning:

On my way home from work a few minutes ago, a commercial I despise with every bone in my body came on - Budweiser's Code Blue.

Maybe it's because I'm not a beer drinker, but I just don't get the commercial. I have several issues with it, maybe someone can enlighten me on it.

If you haven't heard the commercial, this guy opens his bottle of beer, and thanks to a new "breakthrough" by Budweiser, the label turns blue notifying the drinker that the bottle is really cold. He then texts his friends with the words "Code Blue", sharing his achievement with others less fortunate and inviting them to join in his wondrous luck.

Let's start with the cold thing. I just can't get why this guy gets so excited that his beer is cold. Is this a common problem with bear drinkers, that where ever you normally drink has a shortage of cold ones? If so, I'd complain. Something like, "Hey, this beer is warm...can I get it cold?" I mean, sure, it's gonna have spit in it after that, but at least it's cold. Maybe I'm having a problem because my vice is drinking Coke. You see, when I get a Coke out of the fridge, or from a restaurant, it's always cold. Every time. At least once I moved out of my parent's basement and starting keeping drinks in a fridge (Sorry Matt). So I don't really get that excited about it. It's like waking up and being pumped because your bed didn't catch fire during the night - it's an unlikely event, so you really don't think about it until it happens. If it's a Coke, you get some ice - if it's your bed...sorry. That really bites.

Secondly, does he really need a label that turns blue to be able to differentiate between warm and cold? I would think the frostbite on his hand would be a good sign that the beer is the correct temperature. Is he already too drunk to know the difference, or am I missing something again about how great color changing from temperature technology is? If it's really that great, I say bring back Hypercolor clothing so I can start texting my friends every time the armpits of my shirt change color. CODE YELLOW: I'm sweating and it's awesome because everyone knows it.

Which brings up my last issue. If my friends started texting me "Code Blue" I'd be pretty pissed. First of all, you've just wasted my time and text by telling me something that I don't care anything about, except that now I know you're an idiot.
Secondly, it seems to me like this guy is just rubbing it in his friend's faces that he's off work, in a bar, and about to get drunk. That doesn't seem very nice. I mean, I don't work somewhere where I can just drop everything because someone's label turned blue, which is apparently some kind of signal that I should join them. So I'm still working, and now I'm annoyed that my friend isn't. It really ends up being a play by play of a random event in someone's life, which is rather odd. How annoying would it be if we all starting doing that every time we did anything?
CODE RED: I just opened a coke! CODE PC: I just booted my computer! CODE BANKRUPT: I just filled my gas tank! CODE TWITTER: I just twittered...oh. Yeah, that is annoying.