From: Stephen Fisher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 07:56:02 -0500
It was a real eye-opener that people feel so strongly about abortion and gay rights that they are willing to overlook everything else -- EVEN a war they didn't necessarily believe in or a President with questionable motives. I heard a number of people call into WHYY to explain why they voted for Bush. What they said was much more complex and subtle than "family values". Let me see if I can capture it. These were people who cared a great deal about treating people right, doing the right thing, and (for the Christians among them) "doing what Jesus would do". They were in a dilemma. Kerry supported abortion and gay marriage, and they were deeply disturbed by that. Bush was against helping the poor (both here in abroad) and was causing a lot of pain and suffering by starting wars, and they were deeply concerned by that, too. In their conversations with Bush supporters about their concerns about Bush, they heard, "Yes, those are very serious concerns, and the President is also very concerned about these issues. Bush really wants to help the poor, but it's a tough problem. He really thinks that what he's doing is the right thing. And Bush really wants to help the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, he is aware that there's a lot of pain and suffering over there, but he really believes that what he's doing is the right thing in the long run." In their conversations with Kerry supporters about their concerns about Kerry, they heard, "What, you're one of those neanderthals who still supports school prayer, and wants to eliminate abortions and homosexuality! What's next, eliminating all sex outside of marriage! I bet you think the earth is flat, too. Where have you been since 1960, under a rock! I can't believe you could be soooo stupid." So, they voted for Bush. I don't think they heard any special campaign that everyone else was not aware of. I think they just reacted to it in a way that few people expected. One person mentioned that when Clinton talked about abortion, he said that he wanted to make abortion "legal, available, and rare." The "and rare" part communicated to people that he understood, respected and shared their concerns about abortion. The important thing is to welcome people who are anti-gay, and anti-abortion into the discussion, not saying that we will change the party platform, but saying that we respect their concerns, but we can agree on fundemental issues. We need to speak to Christians, particularly evangelical Christians, in language that shows that we share their values and that our platform is based upon those shared values. There's no hyprocrisy involved. My Christian friends supported Kerry >because< of their Christian values, not in spite of them. I googled for ' "I was hungry" jesus ' and the first site I found was, "George W. Bush and the teachings of Jesus" (religiousleft.bmgbiz.net/bushandjesus.html). Just my 2 cents, --- Chip ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
