Category: Essays

Why I am a Democrat

~ Deb ~ 3 Comments

I wasn’t sure I wanted to get political on this blog, but this is on my mind so it’s showing up here.  I will refrain, however, from delving deeply into the pros and cons of the various candidates.  I will hold myself back from saying that Sarah Palin is a strident, smug, sarcastic woman whose speeches sound more like angry stand-up comedy than problem-solving ideas.  I will resist the urge to point out that John McCain’s “straight talk” is about as forward moving as the Teacup Ride at Disneyworld.   I will not discuss Joe Biden’s place in my heart as one of my all-time favorite politicians, smartass though he may be at times.   And I certainly will not be writing about the way Barack Obama makes me believe he really can heal the world, with our help.

No, instead I want to speak in more general, philosophical terms.  Who is running is somewhat secondary to the ideas behind the two sides, and never before in my lifetime have the two sides been more (pardon the pun) black and white.

I am a Democrat because of my values.  The principles which I hold dear and, yes, would fight for are the same ones espoused by Democrats.

1)   I value civil liberties.  It literally brought a chill to my spine when Sarah Palin thought it was some kind of punch line to state that Barack Obama wants to make sure we have read terrorists their rights.  It brought an even deeper chill when thousands of Republican delegates applauded in response.  There is a little concept called “liberty and justice FOR ALL” which I (call me old-fashioned) still believe is at the core of American values.

2)   I value the people of America over the government, industries, and institutions of America.  The Republicans have a foundational belief that if they take care of business, business will take care of the people.  The Democrats believe that if you take care of the people, the people will take care of business.  You only have to compare the booming economy under Democrats with the floundering economy under Republicans to see which idea has proved true.

3)  I value the Constitution.  Never in my life have I seen our Constitution take such as beating as it has over the past eight years.  The Patriot Act was the most grossly misnamed bill to ever cross a President’s desk.  It is not patriotism to infringe on the basic rights of privacy and due process afforded us by a system that has held strong for 230 years.

4)  I value human rights.  The Republicans seem hell-bent on restricting rights while Democrats would expand them.  Republicans want to tell people how to live.  Democrats want to help people live their best lives in their own unique and creative ways.

5)   I value the separation of church and state.   Regardless of what a person thinks their bible or their preacher tells them about gay marriage, the issue of marriage in our society is a civil issue.  So many issues – abortion, gay rights, faith-based initiatives, gun control, the death penalty – seem to be influenced heavily by the bellows of the religious right.  In the same way that we do not let a Koran or the Tao determine who gets the benefits of our society, neither should we allow the Christian Bible or the Torah.  America seems to have arrived at a point where all presidential candidates have to undergo a religious vetting process.  Our increasing flirtation with theocracy scares the hell out of me ever so much more than any of my grandfather’s sermons ever did.

6)   I believe in the strength of diversity.  All you have to do is recall the audience shots from the two conventions to see who has this area covered.  During the Democratic convention, CNN ran little tidbits of trivia across the bottom of the screen.  These included what percentage of Asians, African-Americans, Gays and Lesbians, Hispanics, and people with disabilities were included among the Democratic delegates to the convention.  Those statistics were glaringly absent during the Republican National Convention.  Perhaps it was too embarassing to announce that “0.03% of delegates are (fill in the blank with something other than white).”

There are more reasons why I’m a Democrat, but these are the biggies.  And they are among the reasons why I will proudly cast my vote for Barack Obama and Joseph Biden this November 4th.

The United States of the World

~ Deb ~ 1 Comment

I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics last night.  I could write for an entire day about the artistry, precision, and beauty of the spectacle and still not even come within spitting distance of describing it.  How can you not love China?  Tea, calligraphy, tai chi.  Okay, so there’s smog, human rights abuses, and communisim, too, but they still get high marks for the tea.

I love the Olympics.  I enjoy the athletic competition, but that’s really secondary.  I love the Olympics because for that one brief fortnght every two years, governmentsare not the most important players on the international scene.  Presidents take a backseat to pole vaulters.  Dictators are knocked off the front page by diskus throwers.  Sultans don’t have as much gold around their neck as a few really incredible swimmers.

I appreciate the feelings of national pride people can experience around the Olympics.  The Chinese were sure strutting their stuff last night.  And I suppose if I was there I might even chant a few “USA”s myself.  But national pride has a dark side.  It’s an “official” form of bigotry.  We’re from Iraq, so we get to hate Iran.  We’re from Japan, so we get to despise China.  We’re from the U.S., so we get to glare suspiciously at North Korea.  As if people are really different once a national border is crossed. 

The Olympics present a wonderful opportunity to put political ideologies aside and root for the human spirit.   I don’t really care if the American girls win the gymnastics medal or the Romanian girls.  I would absolutely love to see the Island nation of Samoa or the Democratic Republic of the Congo go home with a medal.  ANd some of the best Olympic stories are about the non-medal winners.  I applaud them all. 

I am a citizen of the world and my race is human.  So when the Russians win or the Chinese or the French or the Americans, I swell with pride and sometimes even cry a little during the anthem.

Confessions of a Recovering Fundamentalist

~ Deb ~ 1 Comment

Why is it that every time I have heard, read or thought of the concept that we should “Pray for those who persecute us,” at least in my adult life, I have thought about praying for Christians?   Please note, I did not say “most times” or “many times.”  It truly is, to my best recollection, every time.

When I was a child, it was easier to see the world in black and white.  A person was either right or wrong.  There could be no other option.  And since we were, of course, right, then everyone who was not us, or with us, or at least immensely similar to us was, as a strict matter of course, wrong.  And, being a child, these very simple rules to this very simple game were easy to grasp.

The idea, however, is to put away childish things as we grow up.  (I might have plagiarized that a bit from the Apostle Paul, but I didn’t want to actually start quoting scripture on ya’.)  In the same way that a Candyland game can no longer give me hours of endless pleasure and a Big Wheel seat no longer fits my ass, so too does the absolute condemnation of those believing something different no longer fit with a mature outlook on humanity.

Persecuting others through religious judgement, condemnation, or bigotry is hateful and cruel.  But, it’s also childish.  And these children’s games create division, violence, and even war.  Perhaps rather than praying for those who would persecute me or you or anyone else, I’ll just pray that we all grow up.

Smoky Mountain Sorrow

~ Deb ~ 1 Comment

This past Sunday, a gunman entered a Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN, and opened fire.  At last count, I believe two were dead and more were in the hospital.  The gunman’s motivation, in his own words, was to “kill some liberals.”

I know a little bit about the Unitarian Universalist Church.  I’ve read their seven principles and agree with them all.  So my personal there-but-for-the-grace-of-Allthatis-goes-I feeling vibrates really close to my center.  Loving, serving, tolerant respectful people enjoying a children’s performance.  I have no doubt that a picture of the congregation just before the gunman entered would have shown smiling faces of joy and proud contentment.

I know a little bit about East Tennessee conservatives, too.  Were it not for those isolated pockets of religious liberals like those found at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, “East Tennessee conservatives” would be a redundant term.   Just across the Cumberland Plateau from where I live in Nashville lies a conservative breeding ground second to none.   I know about these folks because counted among their number is my father and his side of my family.  (Before things get out of hand here, let me be absolutely clear that neither my father nor anyone in his family would walk into a church on a Sunday morning, even a liberal one, with a shotgun and intent to kill.)   My only point here is that I am indeed familiar with the brand of conservativism bred in the hills of East Tennessee and because of that, sadly, I was not the least bit shocked to hear the gunman’s admission of his motive.

My only hope is that the miracle that rises out of this great tragedy, and there will be one, will be an increased understanding, a spreading tolerance, a respect for others which begins to take root in the red clay they call dirt over there.  I hope the miracle of this includes recognition by a few conservative talk show hosts that the wry, bitter, edgy indictment of liberals they spew on a daily basis just really isn’t entertaining anymore.  And I mostly hope the miracle of this includes reminding a few East Tennessee Baptist, Church of Christ, and Nazarene churches that someone once said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”