Let’s talk a little bit about politics, shall we?  First off, let’s get a few things about me, personally, out on the table.

1. I cast my vote for Barack Obama on November 4, 2008

2. I am a Christian that is pro-life, so yes, I believe abortion is wrong

Now that we have those two tidbits out of the way our talk can commence.  During my normal daily/hourly run down of the Google News headlines, I came across this article titled, “Under God: Priest Calls Vote for Obama a Mortal Sin”.  This article is located in the “On Faith” section of the Washington Post / Newsweek.  The article is a quick read and really kind of mind boggling.  Rev. Jay Scott Newman proclaims that:

Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.

So here is what I think.  I think that abortion is awful.  I think that you are killing a person.  I think it should be illegal to get an abortion.  Now some will argue, what if it comes down to the mortality of the mother woman having the baby that thing inside of her? (yes, how are you going to word that sentence so that you are not calling the woman a mother or the thing inside of her a baby?)  But, believe it or not, this post is not meant to be a pro-life/pro-choice rant, this post is about politics.

When I cast my vote for Barack Obama, I was not casting a vote because I believe abortion is ok.  In the same light, I don’t agree with President-elect Obama on a number of issues.  If he and I agreed on every issue… I think I might as well be running for President if those are the issues that get you elected.  When voting I (in my eyes) had two choices, John McCain or Barack Obama.  Being an independent, I started my political research with the mindset that either candidate could win my vote.  I watched news, I read articles, I really did my research.  And I decided overall, that Barack Obama is the President that this country needs, not John McCain.

Four years ago I proudly cast my vote for President George W Bush.  Want to know why?  President George W Bush is pro-life.  That’s right, that was the only reason that I cast that vote.  It was my first presidential election and I was overwhelmed by all the political hype.  I went with what I knew.  And the great thing about it is, that’s ok.  It is just fine for people to cast their vote for a candidate for one specific topic if that’s how they choose.  This election, however, after seeing no progress, nor really any mention about our pro-life president trying to change things with regards to abortion, there are other issues at hand.  I would not be able to just look at the one issue of abortion and feel confident that just because I agree on that one issue, that person should lead the country.

In my best attempt to not be too redundant here, I will finish off this post with one thought…

It is great that so many people are so passionate on the idea of pro-life.  I applaud their efforts.  A few days before the election, when Barack Obama was on campus speaking in our stadium, the sidewalks were covered with chalk drawings of hearts.  Little signs were around stating that all the hearts were to represent the thousands of abortions that occur each and every day.  I believe some of the silent protests like that chalk drawing are some of the most powerful.  But when it comes down to the country that we live in right now.  I (and I speak only for myself here) felt that there was no better choice than Barack Obama to take office.  In the grand scheme of the current state of America: economy, foreign relations, energy consumption, education, … I had to set aside the difference in abortion.

And shame on Rev. Jay Scott Newman.  President-elect Obama is pro-choice.  Every vote cast does not cause a baby to be killed. (taking a big breath and telling myself that this post needs to come to be done… so long)