Barneyisfat

I'm proud of you for voting for John McCain. His policies line up with your own. I think with your super-strong opinion on the issue of abortion it would be morally wrong for you to vote for Obama. I know that your strong morality comes from your Christian faith.

Now I want you to be proud of me. I want you to be proud that I voted for Barack Obama. His policies line up with mine. I want you to understand that MY strong morality comes from my Christian faith as well. I know our main issues are different, but I need you to understand that Barack Obama stands for moral issues I also stand for.

I believe it is inhuman for our government to even consider torturing our prisoners of war. John McCain, who was at one point a prisoner of war and should know better, supports current methods used. I mourn the fact that I belong to a country that would use torture for any reason.

I believe this war in Iraq is unjust, unprovoked, and a moral failure of our country. John McCain would appoint men of strong military leadership who have supported this war as cabinet members. I mourn the fact that I belong to a country that could be brought to war because of fear of an invisible enemy. I mourn the fact that thousands of Americans have died in vain. I mourn the fact that many more Iraqi's have died because of my sin and the sin of others like myself who have failed to stand up to our government in the face of this unjust war.

I believe that it is morally wrong to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and trans gendered people. The truest expression of our faith is how we treat each other and the people around us - and I see little faith expressed towards the GLBT community. I mourn the fact that I belong to a country that allows hate-mongering to trump love and commitment in the marriage debate.

I believe that abortion is wrong. However, I believe that legislation is not the answer. Countries with no abortion rights have statistically similar levels of abortion (illegal abortion) but significantly higher levels of women dying because of failed (and successful) abortion attempts. I mourn the fact that I belong to a faith that believes the only way they can bring true change on this issue is through legislation. I believe abortion should be safe, legal, and exceedingly rare. No legislation can accomplish this ... only the love of Jesus Christ acted out in big ways can do this.

I want you to be proud of me. I want you to realize that for me, voting for John McCain would have gone against my own moral conscience. A moral conscience built by my strong Christian faith.