While reading political content online I encountered a most intriguing group: Republicans for Obama. The group points to the Senator's message of competency and unity as reasons for endorsing his candidacy while further advising that they are Americans first and Republicans second. This is a most puzzeling proposition since the conservative political philosophy embraced by the Republican Party is diametrically opposed to the Progressivism of the Democrats' vision for America. Conservative notions of individual freedom as springing forth from the creator God are at odds with Progressive notions that ones freedom is an endowment of ones government. This translates into matters of practical importance such as judicial nominees, who will sit for life on "unelected" benches. And while our system restricts the voter from the direct process it does not, however, eleminate the voter from affecting the process! And therefore it is the duty of Republicans to elect representatives who will select judges who are "strict constructionists in the mold of Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas."Also, often overlooked is the element of the Progressive demand for "universal health care" that subverts religious civil liberties! One might be surprised to learn how often faith and medicine interact: one obvious instance would be abortion, particularly whether a government administered universal health care program would cover the cost of the abortion procedure and/or the cost to train and supply doctors to execute the procedures? Such a program would mean the forfeiting of tremendous amounts of our civil liberties, granting the government prerogative in areas that matter and over time allow for the removal of spirituality from the public sphere in ways we may not be thinking about right now. Another area of conflict would include the federal oversight and control of education, the matter of determining required learning - sex education, science of evolution/creationism, social studies: defining the family and understanding gender social roles, etc. So then, far from the mere aligning of oneself with a political party in the manner in which one associates oneself as a fan of a favorite sports team: the adoption of a Party's political ideals is the basis upon which the superstructure of ones life rests such that ones political affiliation, by simply necessity, must demand complementary representation!
- C. Jerome Ruth
