I have no issues, like some conservatives, deciding, “Can I vote for Bernie? Even though he’s pro-abortion? Can I do that?” I'm not going to vote for Bernie. Or Hillary. Or anyone else running on a pro-choice ticket.
But the Republican party makes being conservative pretty hard.
I voted for Obama back in the day. I remember dropping my ballot into the voting boxes at Pioneer Square, and thinking what an awesome, historic moment it was. I had just come back from Africa, Obama was going to be our first African American president, and I was voting for him, thinking about red dirt and Ethiopia. In short, I felt all the feelings.
I was not Catholic at that time. I was not pro-life at that time. I was firmly in the camp that knows I would never-ever-ever have an abortion, but who was I to tell someone else what they should do with their body? And I suppose there was some truth to that, because now I'm still not telling people what to do—I have the 2,000 year old Catholic Church behind me telling them what they should do.
And the Church also says I can't vote for pro-abortion candidates. So I won't. Not because I'm incapable of making my own choices, but because anyone who condones something intrinsically evil shouldn't be in a position to make those choices. Because life is sacred.
As a conservative woman my Republican candidate for VP last round was... Sarah Palin. The mom who was not raising her kids while on the campaign trail, winking through a debate, and posing in jogging clothes. And now my choice is a man who attacks anyone within 10 feet of him, whose wife has posed practically naked, and is interested in the “positives” of Planned Parenthood. George W. Bush, enough said.
I mean, come on.
I've been on the other side—the side that wanted to move to Canada when John Kerry lost. And we're making it way too easy to be dismissed as crazies. Because that's what we look like—a bunch of ignorant, backwards, conservatives. And I'm saying that from within the conservative camp, under moral obligation to vote for their candidate. I'm so disgusted, I want to burn my ballot and move to Andorra.
History shows us that being a Catholic and being intelligent are not mutually exclusive. Far from. Look at the doctors of the Church—consider Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, read Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. There are brilliant people in the Church. So being a believer doesn't mean you're ignorant.
And I have to believe there are good men out there, because I'm married to one. So there must be another one somewhere in the country. I have friends who have good husbands. None of them are in Washington D.C. playing at politics, but presumably there is one good man out there who I would allow to come into my home and eat dinner with my children. (Donald Trump would not be on that list of people.)
When I can't find something, I inevitably troll craigslist for that item. Sometimes that works out, and sometimes it doesn't. But it's worth a shot, right? After all, what have we to lose?
missed connections
MAR 17 - Conservative politician, wearing black suit, nice haircut (Washington DC)
You spoke up on issues of abortion, euthanasia, marriage, and family, at your church and in the senate. You possessed knowledge of government and international affairs and conveyed that in a dignified manner. When you spoke, I felt inspired. You didn't see me—I was the conservative mom with two little ones, feeling embarrassed to be wearing red. It appears to be too late now, but I hope you'll find me in four years. I'll be waiting, still wearing red, hopefully carrying another baby.
