In 2004, I watched the RNC convention. This year, I’m not. Out of the field of RNC presidential nominees, I had issues with all of them. About McCain, there are some things I don’t like, but two things which REALLY bother me. The first is McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform. It flies in the face of the Constitution, in my opinion. It restricts free political speech, which the 1st Amendment guarantees. So either McCain is ignorant of the Constitution, which I doubt, or he is using his position to benefit himself, which is more likely. But whether he is ignorant, or using politics to benefit himself, the result is the same: both possibilities disqualify him as a principled leader.
My second issue is McCain’s position on homeschooling. He apparently doesn’t have one, as the last time I checked his website, homeschooling was nowhere mentioned, although it was on the other nominees’ campaign websites. So if you are running in a party which traditionally supports homeschooling, but you don’t personally, then what do you do on your campaign website? You don’t mention it. Does anyone have better knowledge of McCain’s position on homeschooling? Can you leave a link in the comments?
Now something else has come up – McCain’s VP choice, Sarah Palin. When I first heard about it, I thought it was nuts – I thought he had a responsibility to choose someone who could be president in case something happened to him (he is 72 years old, after all, and people die of old age at that age). So my initial reaction to that decision, is that it is one more proof that he is making decisions based on what is best for McCain, and not what is best for the country. Which disqualifies him as fit for presidential office.
Apparently he choose her because she is a conservative Christian, and he is trying to shore up his conservative and Christian credentials, since without them, he can’t win the election. I read about how her nomination has sparked a new Mommy War, about whether mothers with newborns can work (I wouldn’t if I didn’t absolutely have to in order to put food into my children’s mouths). So there is another thing, which troubles me. It troubles me more that she is willing to work full time with a newborn, than the teen daughter issue (see below).
The fact that she had her baby when she discovered that at 44 she was pregnant with a Down’s Syndrome baby, says to me that at least here, her Christian principles dictate her life decisions even when it is not convenient for her — so that is a mark in her favor. About the pregnant teen daughter … that says more to me about the daughter’s father, not her mother. My opinion. So it seems we have a Christian family whose children have sinned and made mistakes. I am not so self- righteous that I cannot say, "Well, who of us haven’t sinned and made mistakes." I want to side with Jesus on the daughter issue, and say, "Neither do I condemn you, Go and sin no more." (John 8). The daughter could have compounded the first sin with an abortion, and no one would have known but God, and the family could have appeared lily white in front of the nation. The fact that she didn’t says something to me about her strength of character, and the depth of her Christian conviction.
So all of that is to say, I do not know who I am going to vote for. Definitely not Obama. But how can I vote for McCain? The only thing I can do, is trust that God raises up and puts down, and turns the hearts of kings like water in His hand, so that His own purposes come to pass. In Him, I put my trust, not in princes whose only strength is the arm of flesh.
SchoolinRhome says
I posted some things today about Sarah Palin. I thought you might like to read them? You can find them here
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/SchoolinRhome/585214/
I struggled a bit with her having so many important roles as I say in my post but I feel that if she is looking to God, he will lead her.
It is important to vote for the best choice we have- so the other choice doesn't win and take away our Christian freedoms!