Why I am no longer a Republican
Used to be one, now am not. I used to say that my party left me so I left it. But it's more than that. I guess over the years my views have changed and it is more a matter of philosophy that any set of stands on issues. Guess this is my post-Election musings
I was raised in a Republican household. Just was the thing to do, part of the groups we were in,neighborhood, church, schools, circle of family friends, etc. I don't remember my parents discussing politics really. They just voted Republican. I remember my Dad being puzzled when I said that I was thinking of voting for Carter in 1976 ,the first year I could vote for President, but it was more puzzlement than argument. Though by then his speech had been severely limited due to his strokes, so we didn't have many discussions - Mom and I could go on and on and poor Dad would get left in the dust :(
I never was a hard-nosed intellectual conservative , just a basic religious conservative, and pretty much in those days most conservatives did not do much with politics (some even considered it a "dirty business") and kept to the basics of pray for leaders and do the basic civic duty of voting, period. When I was in college I majored in political science (and history) and it was still pre-Reagan - at a small Christian college where people didn't have any "change the government to believe like me" goals.
I guess my biggest difference comes from a belief that we ,as a society, have a responsibility to care for those less fortunate and that "We the People" is not just a phrase in the Preamble to the Constitution, it is how things ought to be approached. Government is not the enemy or problem (to quote Reagan)but it is a group expression of "we the people". We are the government , we have both the privilege and responsibility of making the decisions that can benefit us all. If only we take the time to care and be involved.
My faith and my scripture informs me that there are more issues than two (you know them I don't have to reiterate it) that matter in this world. I am an environmentalist, in heart if not in profession, because I believe in an awesome Creator who cares so much about his creation. The oldest profession was as gardener (Genesis 2) ,which I try hard to model. For those who know their Bible check this out: the Babylonian Captivity for the Jews was in part related to the lack of care that they had for the land. 70 years was to be the length, one year for every sabbatical year that they had neglected. By Mosaic law the land was to be left fallow (not cultivated nor harvested) every seventh year. Don't tell me that God doesn't care about the environment!
The treatment of foreigners/aliens/strangers was part of the Mosaic law,and was mentioned in the reasons for judgment upon the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. And welfare was there as well - hence the gleaning of the fields -farmers could not scourer their land for every last morsel of food. Whatever was not picked up in their initial harvesting was to be left for the poor,who were to be allowed to come and gather it.
I could go on and on, and perhaps at another time I will put things down more completely. But suffice it to say I believe in social justice, in the societal working out of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". We have a moral obligation as a society to care for those less fortunate, even when they may have come to such a place by their own errors. The profit motive to extreme becomes selfishness and being motivated by money reminds me of a verse like "the love of money..."(you know the rest). Is it so wrong to think of things like "from each according to his ability ,to each according to their need" as wrong? Even when the early Christian Church practiced that very thing?
There is no such thing as a self-made man(or woman). We all have benefited from the privilege of living in a country like ours, built up by the work of millions who have come before us. And I believe ,as the oft-quote Bible (usually misquoted by those with an ax to grind) says, we are "blessed to be a blessing".
We are our brother's (and sister's) keeper and we need to act like it. I do not believe the Republican Party believes this - or at the very least puts other principles in the way of living this out. And that is why I am no longer a Republican . And why (by the way),in this momentous year I voted for hope, not fear, for Barack Obama.
I was raised in a Republican household. Just was the thing to do, part of the groups we were in,neighborhood, church, schools, circle of family friends, etc. I don't remember my parents discussing politics really. They just voted Republican. I remember my Dad being puzzled when I said that I was thinking of voting for Carter in 1976 ,the first year I could vote for President, but it was more puzzlement than argument. Though by then his speech had been severely limited due to his strokes, so we didn't have many discussions - Mom and I could go on and on and poor Dad would get left in the dust :(
I never was a hard-nosed intellectual conservative , just a basic religious conservative, and pretty much in those days most conservatives did not do much with politics (some even considered it a "dirty business") and kept to the basics of pray for leaders and do the basic civic duty of voting, period. When I was in college I majored in political science (and history) and it was still pre-Reagan - at a small Christian college where people didn't have any "change the government to believe like me" goals.
I guess my biggest difference comes from a belief that we ,as a society, have a responsibility to care for those less fortunate and that "We the People" is not just a phrase in the Preamble to the Constitution, it is how things ought to be approached. Government is not the enemy or problem (to quote Reagan)but it is a group expression of "we the people". We are the government , we have both the privilege and responsibility of making the decisions that can benefit us all. If only we take the time to care and be involved.
My faith and my scripture informs me that there are more issues than two (you know them I don't have to reiterate it) that matter in this world. I am an environmentalist, in heart if not in profession, because I believe in an awesome Creator who cares so much about his creation. The oldest profession was as gardener (Genesis 2) ,which I try hard to model. For those who know their Bible check this out: the Babylonian Captivity for the Jews was in part related to the lack of care that they had for the land. 70 years was to be the length, one year for every sabbatical year that they had neglected. By Mosaic law the land was to be left fallow (not cultivated nor harvested) every seventh year. Don't tell me that God doesn't care about the environment!
The treatment of foreigners/aliens/strangers was part of the Mosaic law,and was mentioned in the reasons for judgment upon the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. And welfare was there as well - hence the gleaning of the fields -farmers could not scourer their land for every last morsel of food. Whatever was not picked up in their initial harvesting was to be left for the poor,who were to be allowed to come and gather it.
I could go on and on, and perhaps at another time I will put things down more completely. But suffice it to say I believe in social justice, in the societal working out of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". We have a moral obligation as a society to care for those less fortunate, even when they may have come to such a place by their own errors. The profit motive to extreme becomes selfishness and being motivated by money reminds me of a verse like "the love of money..."(you know the rest). Is it so wrong to think of things like "from each according to his ability ,to each according to their need" as wrong? Even when the early Christian Church practiced that very thing?
There is no such thing as a self-made man(or woman). We all have benefited from the privilege of living in a country like ours, built up by the work of millions who have come before us. And I believe ,as the oft-quote Bible (usually misquoted by those with an ax to grind) says, we are "blessed to be a blessing".
We are our brother's (and sister's) keeper and we need to act like it. I do not believe the Republican Party believes this - or at the very least puts other principles in the way of living this out. And that is why I am no longer a Republican . And why (by the way),in this momentous year I voted for hope, not fear, for Barack Obama.