Religion and Politics
Many of your posts on the topic "What Matters Most to You?" were very well written. What stood out to me was that many of you stated that your positions on political issues were influenced to some degree by your religious beliefs. I would venture to say that this is common amongst adults, too. So here is my "slightly" controversial question: if you count among your most important issues those topics that seem to relate to religion, such as abortion and gay marriage, are you really focusing on the issues that most impact your life? I am certainly not looking for any particular response from any particular viewpoint here, but I find it interesting that some 15-year-olds are more (?) worried about gay marriage and abortion than about issues such as gun ownership rights / gun control (especially considering the events of the past week in Colorado and Pennsylvania), and school funding. In other words, regardless of your positions on issues like abortion and gay marriage, are those really the main issues that determine your political identity today? Let's say that a political party or candidate took positions that you agreed with on abortion and gay marriage, but took positions with which you disagreed on every other issue. Would you still support that party or candidate, or could you bring yourself to support the other party or candidate, regardless of its or his/her positions on abortion and gay marriage? Again, I am not looking for any particular response here.
(Sidenote: I realize that for some of you, abortion and gay marriage may be very personal subjects due to the circumstances / events of your life or the lives of people you know. I will thus remind all who post to this blog that your comments may be read by people [inside or outside the class] who have gay friends or family members, or know people who have had to make decisions about whether or not to have abortions. Keep that in mind as you craft your responses.)
(Sidenote: I realize that for some of you, abortion and gay marriage may be very personal subjects due to the circumstances / events of your life or the lives of people you know. I will thus remind all who post to this blog that your comments may be read by people [inside or outside the class] who have gay friends or family members, or know people who have had to make decisions about whether or not to have abortions. Keep that in mind as you craft your responses.)
posted by Crosby | 9:49 PM
8 Comments:
I think they are important, because they have the rights of homosexuals and women at stake, but they are not most important to me. I think there are more pressing issues, certainly. And those matter most to me.
Somebody argue the other side, as a devil's advocate! As we saw in class, it is useful to be able to argue both sides of an issue.
How devil's advocate do you want me to be,Crosby? On a scale of 1-10. I might say controversial things, but I will not attack any people.
I think that we tend to focus on the issues of gay marriages and abortions for two reasons. One: they are talked about on the news alot. and two: they seem closer at hand than anything else, except school shootings. Think about it. We are going to be legalized adults in 3-4 yrs. Once we are adults, gay marriages and abortions will directly pertain to us. I think that since we are so close to adulthood, we think about the issues that will press us then, even if there are more pressing issues right now.
If I disagreed with a candidate on every issue except abortion and gay marriages, I think I would vote for the third party. Gay marriages and abortions are very important issues to me and is a candidate disagrees with my standpoint, but agrees with everything else, I wouldn't vote for him/her because gay marriages and abortions are considered wrong in my religion. But if I disagree with a candidate on every issue but those two issues, I wouldn't vote for him/her either becuase other issues are very important too.
I also agree with julia when she says that in some circumstances, abortion is unavoidable. I still think it is wrong, but if a woman has to do it for her safety, then she is in a tough position. I also think that it depends on whether you really want an abortion, or whether you seriously want a child, and there is just no way to do that.
I don't understand why these issues have sparked so much controversy in the first place. I completely agree with Devon's view on this topic, and I think gun control and national security are much more nationaly important topics. Those who don't agree with gay marriage or abortion (or those who do) will not even be able to have their specific viewpoints if they are killed by a drive-by shooting, school violence, a terrorist attack, etc. It's hard to fight over anything if you're dead. I obviously have strong views on this issue, but they don't fall under the general policies of either party. I don't think one or two issues should determine a person's entire political identity, and I think people should vote on specific issues and not endorse ideas just because they are also endorsed by "thier" party. My views are on both ends of the spectrum, and therefore I consider my self independent from influence by any particular party.
I agree with tomr. It all depends on circumstances. If I were gay, gay marriage would be a much bigger deal.
But for the record, I am not.
These issues are important to me, but not as much as others. These issues matter because, to me, they concern fundamental rights.
no, rileys, I am not. I am saying it would be even more important if I was. It was just an example.
And I agree with you on abortion. I also think it is important for women to control their own reproductive system. If you dont like it, fine. Don't have one. But don't stop others from. They might not agree with your religious interpretations.
I completely disagree with Kristen but agree wholeheartedly with benh. If you are prolife think about this. If a sexual predator found you and did bad things to you and you got pregnant, would you want to have some creepy dude's baby? If i was a chick i certainly wouldn't. I believe the Republican Presidential Candidate things you should. Kristen on to what you said. It totally agree with the first part of the post but then you go on to say that gay marriage is an important issue. Here's what i have to say about that. I may will elections, it may appear or not appeal to right wing voters but in the long run, who cares? Its not my problem if guys are doing strange things at night nor do I want it to become my problem. Its almost nonsensical. We have China to compete with and Iran to stop and we care about gays getting married?! I don't know about you guys but that seems sort of counter productive.
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