Looking towards the future, I would love to settle (eventually) in my hometown, have my kids go to my high school and be close to my parents as well as much of my extended family. The one thing holding me back right now is that my hometown is incredibly conservative. Generally, if you run for political office around here, you run Republican, even if you aren't necessarily a Republican.
My dad is a down the ticket Republican, and I was somewhat the same until I went off to college and learned things about - gasp! - the world and such. I like to debate him on certain issues, and back when we had cable, he'd regularly watch what my family (including my dad) referred to as the "Bush Network" [aka Fox News].
I've had the abortion debate with one of my friends. When I concede that I believe life begins at conception, he asks how I can't consider abortion murder. And I do, personally, but I know that my above belief is due to my religion. Not everyone believes that life begins at conception, and I don't feel that anyone - an average citizen such as myself or the powerful President of our country - has the right to interfere with an individual's own freedom of choice. Whether it's choosing to get married to someone you love or making a decision about one's own future, it's just that - someone else's life. And as such, the religion of those in power shouldn't have anything at all to do with it.
Speaking of gay marriage, so long as I hit that topic via tangent, I understand that religious marriage may be in fact solely between a man and a woman. And no piece of legislation can change that. HOWEVER, who's to say that "gay marriage" can't be akin to a heterosexual couple going down to the courthouse to get married? No religion involved, no problem, right?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-12-08 03:36 am (UTC)My dad is a down the ticket Republican, and I was somewhat the same until I went off to college and learned things about - gasp! - the world and such. I like to debate him on certain issues, and back when we had cable, he'd regularly watch what my family (including my dad) referred to as the "Bush Network" [aka Fox News].
I've had the abortion debate with one of my friends. When I concede that I believe life begins at conception, he asks how I can't consider abortion murder. And I do, personally, but I know that my above belief is due to my religion. Not everyone believes that life begins at conception, and I don't feel that anyone - an average citizen such as myself or the powerful President of our country - has the right to interfere with an individual's own freedom of choice. Whether it's choosing to get married to someone you love or making a decision about one's own future, it's just that - someone else's life. And as such, the religion of those in power shouldn't have anything at all to do with it.
Speaking of gay marriage, so long as I hit that topic via tangent, I understand that religious marriage may be in fact solely between a man and a woman. And no piece of legislation can change that. HOWEVER, who's to say that "gay marriage" can't be akin to a heterosexual couple going down to the courthouse to get married? No religion involved, no problem, right?
=sigh=