I find it fascinating - and disturbing - that these beliefs and attitudes are yoked together as if by the strongest chains. Conservatives (British ones) may be as anti-socialist as anyone but be liberal on abortion. None believe in Creationism as far as I know.

George Bush has been the scariest president since Nixon but Palin made him look like Abe Lincoln. She is as extreme, in her way, as some of the worrying mullahs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsdKUQ1nKA

for one person’s perspective on how you can make a decision to support Obama AND vote for John McCain. Feel free to forward this to any “undecided” voters you know of. This will be a VERY close election and we need every single vote we can get.

Demonizing Obama will get us a few votes (and also lose us at least a few votes) but I hope that a rational, positive thought process will persuade a few people who are still on the fence.

Regards,

Dan

One more thing- I don’t mean to come off angry. So many angry posts, whatnot everywhere.

It is wonderful you have been so generous with your income. it is truly Christian. Jesus preached against the dangers of wealth, so I am always happy to hear that people are giving and not speaking hypocritically.

Please don’t tell me that non-Christians and secularists don’t give as much as you do. It’s incredibly presumptuous and condescending. Should I give you examples of the education and mortality rates of more secular nations and communities? You probably wouldn’t like that. I don’t know where you are from, or what race you are, but I feel safe in guessing you didn’t grow up in a poor, minority inner-city community where you had to attend a school that was funded by this poor community.

I do not believe government can solve all our problems. Look at the hurricane Katrina example. There are many others. Of course it’s people working together that will make things happen. The Bush administration has not advocated for working together. They have been secretive, evasive and fear mongering.
They have been polarizing and divisive. The reason this election is so emotional for everyone is because they have been so manipulative- and we have allowed them to be!- that our country is now more divided than it has been in many, many years. We are crippled and we’re all kidding ourselves if we think some new president is going to step in and suddenly our problems will all be fixed.

I do not believe government can solve all our problems. I believe we as citizens can ban together to help sway government locally and nationally toward aiding us in our problems. We all need the same things. Some just need more help obtaining those things than others.

Why even make those claims about the Obamas? Is this one of those FOX News one sided arguments that leave out any and every important detail? How can you say they expect government to do their charity work? Do you know what they’ve spent their entire careers fighting for? I hate that I’m even involved in this conversation, but I really must come to their defense. First of all, you are right about what you said regarding their tax return, but you yourself advocate for giving independently, and you do not know what they have not claimed. Secondly, the Obamas have not been wealthy for many, many years. They have recently earned that much money from the sale of his two books after interest was sparked by his run for president. They are also very new parents and they ARE NOT from a wealthy family, but rather quite the opposite and we all know how much money the Bush family has and the kind of cash you have to put up these days to make a bid for president. The picture is much bigger than a year or two of dollars and cents. There are many ways to give!!!

Btw, while I’m admittedly non-Christian myself, I am not taking issue with Christian faith or beliefs. My sister is Christian, my father is Christian, my grandparents, many of my friends. ..They are also liberals. Why do the people on this site (everywhere for that matter?) keep lining up as Christian conservatives versus left-wing liberals? There are many, many liberal Christians.

As for the Bible being written in black and white… does that mean that you should stone your family and your children? Does that mean it is acceptable to sell your daughter into slavery? Does that mean that we should make no allowances for science and discovery because they were not a part of our knowledge at the time the Bible was written? Why are supporters of intelligent design unwilling to believe in evolution, yet they conveniently carry around cell phones, drive cars, etc. Why are those technologies something they can live with but not other scientific facts and theories?

Who says that Christians and conservatives are not generous? When was I making such a claim? It is a simple fact that there is enough money to go around. If you are really so generous, what’s the worry? It is hard for me to believe that Christians all love their neighbors. I think we are all equally at fault - we give when and where it is comfortable and when it makes us feel good about ourselves because it validates our own views.

Of course it is honorable to work in a soup kitchen, but don’t you see that how that is validating? It is not preventative!!! Universal health care is preventative care. If I got sick tomorrow or was in a serious accident it is very likely that I might be homeless in a few years.

I would be happy to pay more for gas if I knew it was going toward providing better, more available alternative transportation. I like being on the train with others, I like walking around my neighborhood and community, I enjoy feeling connected to people around me and giving to others. It’s healthy psychologically, spiritually and physically. I don’t need to be in my little bubble- whether that be a car or who I choose to associate with or who I decide is in need. There are many things outside my little world and my understanding.

I don’t know where you get your facts about gay relationships, because they sound rather biased, but let’s say for the sake of argument that they are true. Doesn’t it make sense that gay people would have a higher percentage of substance abuse, depression or whatever else you claim there? They are often rejected by their own families, their communities, and generous, loving Christians such as yourself. How do they find sanity, support, acceptance and love? Good thing there are horrible, pushy “liberals” and “secularists.” Oddly, I do not find your claims to be true among any of the gay couples that I know. Saying things like that is reminiscent of things said historically about women and blacks and it is really offensive to me because of all the things Christians argue for or against I find it to be one of the most hypocritical and a complete waste of everyone’s time and energy. It is bigotry pure and simple and it is UGLY.

Your analogy was not insulting and I appreciate you clarifying. It was, however, not particularly helpful as you have probably gathered from the above paragraphs. Sorry, your post upset me.