Like many Americans, I’m getting very tired of the presidential election cycle. The two candidates spend very little time talking about what they’re going to do if they get elected. Instead, they expend great quantities of hot air showing us how he’s the savior of the country (if not the world), and his opponent is evil incarnate and will destroy the known world the moment they’re elected. I’m looking forward to November 5th, at which point the political advertisements will no longer be running. Sure, there will be at least a week of finger pointing and recounts before one or the other is named President of the United States, but that can be avoided by refusing to turn on the 24-hour news channels.
While one might be able to avoid the commercials, debates, and other attacks by simply not turning on the TV (not a bad idea in the first place), it’s hard to avoid when representatives of one of the candidates call on a Friday night while I’m enjoying watching Babylon 5 on DVD (yes, I’m a sci-fi weenie). On Friday night, I received a call from the local representatives of the Obama campaign. Unfortunately for her, I decided long ago that I could never in good conscience vote for a candidate who is so openly in the back pocket of Planned Parenthood and NARAL. You see, I was born in 1976. Roe v. Wade was January 22, 1973. Do the math. Abortion matters to me because I realized many years ago I would not be here if my mom said 4 words: “I want an abortion.” Now, my mom is very much against abortion, but the fact that I could have been aborted legally, and that over 1 million boys and girls my age were aborted in 1976, matters to me very deeply. Also, the fact that we are over 48 million “legal” deaths due to Roe v. Wade and counting concerns me even more. Needless to say, I cannot vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights advocates.
Anyways, now that you know where I’m coming from, this poor unfortunate volunteer from the Obama camp calls to encourage me to vote for him. As part of our conversation, she asks me, “What keeps you from voting for Barack Obama?” My response, after a short pause when I was deciding whether to be nice to this lady or not, was as follows:
“Ma’am, I’m a Roman Catholic priest. As such, respect for human life is of vital importance to me. Mr. Obama has made statements that cause me concern regarding his respect for all human life, especially regarding abortion.”
She kind of stammered out an “I understand.” Then, after a short pause of about a second or so, she invited me to visit their office in town for more information and wished me a good night. I really don’t think she expected to ever hear that response, and was completely unprepared for it. I almost feel sorry for her.
Like I said, I can’t wait for November 5th.
