Granted there are "middle-of-the-road" issues that can be debated, but abortion is not one of them, and neither are suicide and assisted suicide. In my opinion these two issues alone are enough to compel any decent Christian to vote for the party who is for LIFE, and that party is currently the Republican Party.
Christians have a responsibility to mankind and to God. We need to defend life. We should not hide from moral responsibilities, like standing up against abortion.
Do we want men going around hitting women with sticks because they are not wearing head scarves? Of course not. So many people make Christians out to be radical nuts who dream of bringing back the Inquisition. I would not want a theocracy, but I don't want the opposite either.
Christians must defend Life. We must stand up for God's Children by voting and through direct action, like frequent protests, such as the Monthly Call for Life at MarchTogether.com.
Christian leaders must speak about evils like abortion and suicide in church, and they must encourage their parishioners to get involved in Life issues.
Pushing the R button is not enough. To many representatives run on certain platforms only to do what they want after they are in office, claiming to do the "will of the voter". We are a Republic, not a Democracy. It is shameful how many important issues are being turned over to a vote by "the people".
Would America have voted to change Civil Rights issues in the 60s? I doubt it. Things only changed because of a determined effort by our representatives in office who knew that things had to change.
Pontius Pilot is alive and well in America today. Our representatives are telling us that America is not ready to stop abortion. They look at the polls and adjust their speeches and letters accordingly. It's as if Pontius Pilate were standing up there today, washing the blood of the children who are dying off his hands.
No party is perfect, but the Republican party votes Pro-Life the majority of the time & the Democrats vote pro-abortion the majority of the time. We need to vote for those who claim to be Pro-Life and then hold them to it by making sure they vote accordingly.
Regardless of who is in office, we need to end abortion now! Almost 4,000 people die by abortion in America every single day, and that is outrageous! Every day we need to have a sense of urgency. Every day every decent God-loving and/or LIFE loving human being needs to do everything they can to stop abortion.
Unite with us once a month in the Monthly Call for Life at MarchTogether.com. It doesn't matter if you are a Pro-Life organization like The American Life League or Defend Life, or if you are a Pro-Life individual who knows abortion needs to end. We all need to unite so that our voices are heard and our presence is felt. There are only two people who know if you are doing everything you can. One is yourself, and the other needs no introduction.
Every day you can spread the word of Pro-Life Unity and encourage others to get involved. I know, most people find the topic of abortion uncomfortable. Oh well, it's not as uncomfortable to talk about abortion as it is for people who won't live today.
United we stand - Divided they die - Pass it on
It is suprising that anyone would equate the Republican party to the Christian pro-life party and the Democratic party as the opposite. Or reduce Christianity to a few social issues, however important they are.
Who is in power and what have they accomplished? Who put the majority of the justices on the Supreme Court? What about Arlen Specter ...
"Do we want men going around hitting women with sticks because they are not wearing head scarves? " - this makes no sense at all.
Christian Republicans typically are Pro-Life. Christian Democrats are typically pro-abortion. Republicans vote Pro-Life 95% of the time, Democrats vote pro-abortion 95% of the time. I think that speaks for itself.
I have written plenty of articles about the fact that just because a person claims to be Pro-Life doesn't mean he/she is going to vote Pro-Life when in office.
The reason we call people like Arlen Spector "RINOs" is because they run on a Republican platform but don't hold Republican values and when they make it into office they side with the Democrats on many social issues, including abortion.
The "sticks and head scarves" bit has to do with what is happening in the world today by an unmentioned religion.
And finally, as I said, we should not count on any political party to do us any favors. We should demand an end to abortion regardless of who is in office and what party is in control of the Supreme Court.
I'm not denying that Republicans are significantly more "pro-life", as a whole, than Democrats. However, I deny that voting and being a Republican is a litmus test of whether or not a person is a Christian, which is what the article you pointed to implies.
Add to your list of RINOs Condaleeza Rice, Luis Gonzales, Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Scharzenegger, Colin L. Powell, Karen Hughes, Christine Todd-Whitman, Olympia Snowe, Tom Ridge�. Also, consider your assessment of the President, "I have brought up before how we are in denial about the Bush administration and his supposed Pro-Life stance..."
We do agree that there is a moral imperative for all people to take a real, concrete and forthright stand against abortion, which means electing those who are pro-life, e.g., I whole heartedly agree �We need to vote for those who claim to be Pro-Life and then hold them to it by making sure they vote accordingly," which I think is your main point.
Different people will different opinions about which issues are "middle of the road". There are some pro-lifers who very deeply believe that pre-emptive war (attacking a country that has not attacked or threatened us) is nothing short of murder. This makes an election between one candidate who orders people to commit murder and another who wants to allow people to commit murder a pretty yucky choice. Both are violations of my pro-life convictions.
If all of the candidates on the ballot are pro-murder one way or another, and I decide to go ahead and vote anyway, I think I can have some leeway about which killer I decide to hold my nose and vote for. (For the record, in 2004 I voted for the killer from the Green Party. For the specific job of Commander-in-Chief, I don't want anybody who believes in pre-emptive war, and that included Kerry).