One Issue Voters: Part 2

By Life & Times guest blogger Tony Taylor

WARNING! This will step on your toes!

I don’t have a problem with Giuliani, many of my Christian friends think he is unthinkable because of his stance on abortion. Well, I don’t really know what my stance on abortion should be and I consider myself a believer. This is not to say I do not abhor the act. I would never consider it for a woman I had gotten pregnant and try to dissuade anyone considering such an action. However, I wonder if that’s enough. I just cannot get to the point where I feel the need to HINGE all my political and social conclusions on other individuals by their ideas on that ONE issue. I saw a movie called “Saved!” a few years ago and it is set at a Evangelical Christian School and the characters played by Macaulay Culkin and Eva Amurri are sitting at a café having coffee and see a girl from their school go into an abortion clinic wearing a trench coat and sunglasses and Eva says “There’s only one reason Christian Girls go into abortion clinics.” To which, Macaulay Culkin exclaims “She’s planting a pipe bomb?” “Ok, two reasons,” retorts Eva. It was a classic one liner. My point is I just cannot see myself being that appalled at abortion that I let it govern my entire voting process and ideology. Although I personally would never encourage it, but aside from my alleged morality on the issue, there is a pragmatic side of me that thinks it would be such a social upheaval in this country that legally—I’d rather just leave the issue as is and move on. Does this make me a sell out as a Christian? Does this taint every other aspect of my faith, my salvation, and relationship with my Lord? Am I sellout like Ice Cube going from NWA preaching about racism and the evil of the L.A. police to doing Disney movies like “Are We There Yet?”
I once had an Economics Professor tell me he felt it wasn’t an issue to take on legally, but economically. He said if eliminated the need for abortion from a demand side, rather than supply side both sides of the issue would feel better resolve. His Keynesian idea was basically If we simply found enough adoptive homes and enough financial resources for these mothers to live and raise these children would that sway them and thereby palliate both opposing sides of the issue.
This same brilliant Professor also told me “As long as there isn’t a war or any major catastrophes going on, it really doesn’t matter who is elected as President. “’Just watch the Federal Reserve my boy,” He’d say. Watch what they do to affect monetary supply and rates. He’d also tell me to watch the Congress to see what went on. The President was a minor role to my third favorite economist. It reminded me a great deal of Billy Murray’s great speech in Meatballs entitled “It Just Doesn’t Matter.” Well, I’ve written far more than I intended, but I was listening to The Who’s “Who’s Next” while I did it and it just finished the entire cd. “Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss,” my friends.

Read One Issue Voters: Part 1 here