Why I Am Voting Obama

Okay. So, for those of you who have been wondering about my recent status change...here is the blog that tells it all. Well, not all, but definitely a run-down. I would love any feed back you may have to offer.


Why I am Voting Obama

For quite some time I have struggled with matching up my theology and my political ideologies. And while I cannot say that the turmoil is completely ended, I can, however, admit to making some headway. Allow me, if you will, to elaborate.


I am a self-professed Christian, a follower of Christ, a disciple, if you will. Not that I am perfect in my pursuit of holiness and Christ-likeness, but the desire to be so is there. And part of this journey, this path I trod, is to vote how Jesus would want me to vote.


For a time, I lived in ignorance. And while it was not exactly bliss, at least I was not burdened with a need to know. Things have changed in the last couple of years.


I had been, not unlike some fellow evangelicals I have met, a one or two issue voter. By that I mean if the candidate were against one of two very important issues, I would, by default, never consider voting for them.

Pro-choice? No thank you! Legitimatize homosexual unions! Are you crazy? And so it would go. If a candidate embraced either of these two things, then it was my belief that no matter what else they stood for, I had to vote against them.

In fact, the first time I ever voted was in '04. I voted against Kerry. Now keep in mind that I am not saying that I voted for Bush, when this is, in truth, what I did. But, at the time, I was just voting for the current President to keep Kerry out of office.


Did I know much about Kerry? Nope. All I needed to know, I was told, was that he was for abortion and supported the gay agenda. By default, it was my Christian duty to vote against him. And so, as I said, I did.

But it bothered me. It bothered me a great deal. It was not because I disliked Bush. I did not, and I do not. It is because I voted in ignorance. I did not really either know or understand the issues at hand. I am not saying I understand them much more now.

I resolved that the next time I voted, it would be an educated vote, or I would not cast a ballot at all. I began to do research on candidates and issues. I looked at them from an open-minded perspective instead of from the mindset that if, say, the Democratic Party supported something, it must, therefore be bad.

The truth is, I began to see that I disagreed with a lot of the things the Republican Party stands for. I came to see that I disagreed with a little that the Democratic Party stood for. I began to say things such as: "I really respect his ideas, but because of his stance on such and such, I cannot abide to vote for him." I even took one of those ridiculous online match-up games where you picked where you stood on certain issues, and you got to see who lined up with you the most. And guess what. I lined up with Obama.

I have to admit, at the time, I laughed at myself. I resolved to investigate those issues a little more, because I did not really understand them. I mean, surely if I were lining up with left-wing Obama, I had to have misunderstood.

I began to read speeches instead of listening to sound bytes. When Obama gave his speech on racism, I was moved to tears. I told myself I still could not vote for him, but boy, I wish someone who I could vote for would pick up the torch.

I remained unconvinced for quite some time until I read Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He said something in the midst of his speech that clearly spoke to me. He said something to the effect that we may not agree abortion, but surely we could agree that we needed to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. I agreed. He said, essentially, we may not agree on homosexual marriage, but surely we could agree that long-time partners should have the right to visit one another in a hospital where only family members were allowed. And I could not disagree with that either.

There is more to this all than that. I began to see that, by and large, the Republican Party does little to help the poor and downtrodden in our country. Their mindset is "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, lads!"

Before I ever read Obama's speeches, I found this to be true. I see glaringly a need to revise our healthcare system. I cannot help but notice that the poor and lower class struggle constantly financially. I have even been on the receiving end of a system not quite willing to help those who are even trying to help themselves.

I looked in Scripture for answers. Over and over again, Scripture commands and implores us to take care of the needy, the poor. It tells us to help the aliens, the widows, and the orphans. James even tells us that true religion consists in part in taking care of this lot.

So I became very conflicted. All of my Christian churchgoing life, I have been told that the Republicans, the Conservatives are the true Christians in our nation. So why were they neglecting the poor and needy? Why did my politics have to eschew one form of justice for another?

These and other questions I began to ask myself. At first, I just wished that there were a candidate who would embrace both sides of that coin. There is not. So what was I to do?

I had a discussion with a friend of mine who said we could not just look at these issues. We had to look at the whole shebang. And so…I have tried to do so.

The War in Iraq.

I was against it from the start. I was not comfortable with it even for the reasons that we were given, and when those reasons did not play out? Did we ever find WMD? But we derailed that country by our invasion. And so, we have spent the last few years fixing what we broke.

Alternate Energy.

Oil is not a renewable resource. Even without all of the politics involved…we will eventually run out. Would it not be more responsible to work on it while there is time? Do not our children deserve that courtesy?

Global Warming.

I do not necessarily agree that it is happening. I do, however, think that being good stewards of the planet God entrusted to us is not a bad thing.

Are there other issues? I am sure there are. The economy and all that this entails. Again, I am for the poor, so you should know by that where I stand.

Ladies and gentleman of the jury of my peers, I stand before you, convicted. I am voting for Obama. I am not leaning, nor am I pandering. If I can register to vote on time…I will cast my lot with him, for better or worse.