One Sixteenth

Hi,
I read you via Susie (breastfeeding, crazy lady
;-))

I returned to my religion because it's chock full of admitted sinners and those attempting to make their way to sainthood ;-) Yeah, there would be answers to be given if one were to vote for a particular candidate, but one would not be screamed at, ousted out -- but loved despite what some would say was the wrong choice.

I find I am more often accepting of people than accepted, and that's fine with me...

it's *their* problem not yours - love.

As my Dad always said (he's deceased so I always capitalise him now ;-)) "Don't Let The Bastards Wear you Down!"

I'm sure there are more than a few evangelical Christians who would get pretty hot under the collar if one of their own voted for Kerry. I have heard Christians muse aloud if one could really be a Christian AND a Democrat simultaneously. This would probably not be as prounounced in more working-class (union) groups and African-American groups of evangelicals, but in my Wonder Bread World, that's pretty much the way it is. It hasn't been that way for long, but the abortion issue has pushed most Evangelicals to the more conservative side.

I'm sure that there are conservative Christians who voted for Kerry, but I doubt they'd be real open in admitting it.

I'm sorry you were attacked for your vote. I'm really discouraged for all the "us against them" mentality that has come to the forefront in American politics in the last few years.

Well, maybe not screamed at and called names but we certainly would meet some strong opposition to voting for the 'wrong' candidate, maybe even somewhat vilified. Yes, we certainly could not call ourselves conservative christians and vote for 'the GREATER of 2 evils' now could we?

All sarcasm aside ;) it's sad that the whole poitical thing has gotten to be so divided on the basis of religion; that in many ways thanks to the conservative 'right' who have taken over the whole business and made it a moral war.

Anyway...we don't want to start a war on your comments board, so I'll be quiet now. Hope you are enjoying being back in Texas, but I bet you miss Chicago!

Have a great day...
Beth (a Christian who voted for the 'wrong' candidate!)

I seem to remember the "voter guides" we got in the Catholic Church always leaning heavily democratic. If you think about our most Catholic states (MA, NJ, NY), they tend to vote democratic the vast majority of the time. And of course, our only Catholic President (JFK) was a Democrat.

I'm sorry you were villified. In my Catholic parish we have both democrats and republicans, and many are active in their respective party organizations. Yet we all are able to focus on what brings us together - our love of God.

Beth, I'm sorry you think the conservative right has taken over everything. I'm often amazed at how the "liberal left" paints the religious right as bigoted and unenligtened.

I believe in reality, there is much more that unites this country and divides it, and that it's the shrill on each end of the spectrum (to look at it simplistically) that creates the illusion of a great divide.

Maybe if the great middle would swell up and drown the voices of the lunatic fringe (both sides), we could have reasoned discourse and solve what ails us.

well, since I belong to a MN Lutheran church we don't so much yell at each other. We sigh deeply and shake our heads over each others bumper stickers. But we are much too passive agressive to ever SAY anything. Of course our church also does not take an official political side.

I'm pagan and I didn't vote for Bush. You don't agree with my choice and I don't agree with your choice but it is still your choice to make. That's why we vote in this country. I'm sorry for disrespectful and rude comments sent to you from any pagan or Wiccan. Considering many people become pagan because the freedom they feel doesn't come with other religions, it is a very sorry state of affairs.

Athenesc, that's exactly it!!

You can't make a statement that defines all Wiccans - not really, because there are as many different definitions of Wicca as you can think of. Traditions differ. Deities differ. Structure differs. Heirarchy/no heirarchy, initiatory/non-initiatory. You could say that all Wiccans at least adhere to the Rede, but even there you will find nine million different interpretations and versions of what the Rede actually means ... all Wiccans have complete freedom in how they define their beliefs and practice. And that is why the religion is so attractive to some - freedom, room for differences.

So it is especially ironic that that there is a faction of Wiccans who feel that 1) they can define all Wiccans as adhering to a particular set of beliefs, and 2) they can scream with incredible intolerance against those who don't fit into those beliefs.

It goes like this: "All Wiccans have a certain set of core beliefs, and the Republicans are directly opposed to those beliefs."

For Heaven's sakes.

Freedom. Freedom of religion. Freedom to vote. For whom I choose. Freedom to not vote, if I so choose. Freedom within my religion to vote *my* conscience - not yours, not anyone else's. Just mine. That's what it's all about, folks. And no, freedom does not depend on voting the "right" way, where you define what is right.

My local CUUPS email list went berserk with "oh no, catastrophe, wish I could move to Canada." I stayed quiet until one started advocating "war" against "neighbors," then I jumped in with "my oath is to the constitution." Caught flack but also brought out a bunch of moderates speaking against violence. The original guy claimed he was just speaking metaphorically. And we discovered there was one other Bush voter in the group. So there's hope.

Depends a lot on the church and the surrounding local culture. Around here, almost everyone, including most Christians, are waaaay on the left and don't even acknowledge that someone in their midst might think differently. That political myopia is the primary reason I didn't return to the mainline denomination I was raised in. The DNC ain't my savior.

-Mungo