I think I've only posted here once or twice, but I do love the idea behind this thread, so here goes...
* Iraq War.
Short answer - Supported at first but now I feel duped.
I completely support our troops - I love the soldier but I hate the mission, and I don’t get how some people can’t understand that, especially because I’m the wife of a veteran who feels the same way I do about this. I'm almost ashamed to admit I considered voting for Bush in the last election because I didn't want a regime change at home in the middle of a war. Not because I thought he was handling it all that great, but just changing hands didn't make sense. (Think FDR in WWII.) Then the whole WMD issue came out - or didn't come out, as it happened, and I just felt duped. Yes, we need to finish the job now - I just wish there were clearer objectives stated other than rhetoric "When they stand up, we stand down" bullshit. With all the abuse scandals and whatnot it's obvious to me that there isn't any clear leadership happening and we have kids who are running on their own without anyone watching over them. Which isn't by any means excusing what's happened in regards to the abuse scandals - and trust me, I'm not losing any sleep because a true terrorist may be receiving less than Geneva-approved accommodations - I just worry how many more terrorists are being created out of the publicity. I had mixed emotions about Al-Zarqawi being killed; on one hand, I won't miss him, but on the other - how many kids saw that and now hate America? How many more Zarqawis did we create by doing that? I feel like we’re fighting a gang war on a global scale. You kill our guys, we retaliate and kill your guys – it’s just a vicious circle.
* Religion (those that have those that don't)
Short answer – Organized religion scares me.
I wasn't raised with any religious faith. I was a hard atheist for a long time; now I'm really intrigued by the idea of a god. Organized religion makes me want to run away fast, but Eastern philosophy intrigues me. I like thinking that God is all around us, through us, beside us, within us, rather than looking down at us from some far, far, away mysterious place. I still have issues with the ‘traditional’ notion of the faraway God that I'm working on.
* Abortion
Short answer – For it because it needs to be a safe procedure
I believe it's a terrible thing. Even though I wasn't raised with religious issues, I do believe life begins at conception (you have 46 chromosomes, what do you think it's going to be? A turkey? A piece of paper?). On the other hand, it's just not possible for us to go back to the days before abortion was legal - the days of women doing horrific things to themselves to 'get rid' of their unwanted pregnancies are too frightening for us to go back. It should be a safe procedure. I'm thankful that it was a safe procedure for me when I had to have one because I truly believed my life was at risk. However, there was no follow up other than 1 medical check up afterwards. I still struggle with the decision I made almost 15 years ago. Sure, I can see someone about it now; I just wish someone would have told me I could do that back then when I was a scared teenager losing 20 pounds in 2 weeks because I couldn't eat or drink anything and my doctor wanted to 'punish' the little girl for having sex and not do anything for me.
* Stem Cell Research
Short answer – For it
I don't understand why anyone would be against it. The embryos are slated for destruction anyway; we may as well gain some knowledge from them if we can. Fetal farming on the other hand - that's a shady area, and without knowing much about it, other than it's implanting embryos into a woman and harvesting them, I'm against it.
* Gay Marriage/Rights
Short answer – 100% for it
Get over it. If we're so worried about the sanctity of marriage we need to focus on why the divorce rate is so high. I don't think people can choose their sexual orientation any more than I can choose to change the color of my eyes - I mean, nobody ever asked me, "When did you know you were straight?" The only choice homosexuals make is the choice to live honest lives and be brave enough to be themselves in the face of hostility and closed-mindedness (which IMO just stems from fear of the unknown). Mind you, I don't believe all homosexuals are saints either; they’re every bit as good and every bit as bad as anyone else. When I say living honest lives, I mean living knowing that they're gay and not being ashamed of it. I'm not saying anything about their moral fiber.
* Death Penalty
Definitely needs an overhaul but I am generally in favor of the concept.
* Gun Control
I think it was Larry the Cable Guy who said it best - "If we can blame guns for killing people, I can blame misspellings on my pencil."
* Israel conflict
Short answer – I don’t know
I'm too ignorant about the situation to have an opinion, but from what I can tell, Israel has a right to defend herself. And maybe Israel has gone a bit too far, but I'm not sure. Unfortunately, what passes for news in America is more like entertainment, so I try to catch international news on the bigger subjects, and I haven't been able to actually do that as of late. (Ironically, I do get most of my news from The Daily Show, which isn't supposed to be a real news show but I find that I get more relevant, objective facts from that show than CNN or Fox News. And I get a few laughs out of it too.)
* Political Views
Quite moderate, I suppose…? I guess at this point in time I really don’t know. It’s gotten really bad in the U.S.; lately the only thing that matters in our elected representatives is whether they have a D or an R next to their name, and I hate that it’s come to that. I don't blindly support one party or another (in fact, blind loyalty scares the shit out of me), but I am in favor of a 2 party system because having a 34% majority (as would be the case in a 3 party system) scares me. I have found myself voting democrat down the line - not intentionally, but just finding the lesser of two evils to deal with in most cases. I believe children should be raised in a loving, 2 parent home, and, ideally, one parent should stay home with the children. (I didn't say the parents have to be of the opposite sex though.) I believe in personal responsibility and accountability - I don't understand why people want to sue the bartender when it’s the drunk driver who kills/injures someone. I believe if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to bitch. (Assuming you are fortunate enough to live in a country where voting is a right.) I saw a great bumper sticker the other day: If you don’t vote, people like Bush get elected into office.
Damn. I didn’t mean to write a book. But it was a great idea for a thread.