why obama...part 1

When we visited our families in Richmond last week, I received a lot of comments about my Obama '08 bumper sticker on the back of our car. I even received several offers to have it removed! Let me frame this for those of you who are not familiar with our family background. Both Sarah and I come from very conservative backgrounds. My side of the family is very involved in the Republican party in the local and state levels. My mom worked for a Republican representative in the Virginia legislature and even ran for a seat in the VA House of Delegates.

I spent endless hours as a kid stuffing Republican mailers, putting up Republican signs, passing out Republican flyers, and attending Republican events. I enjoyed most of the excitement when I was a kid, but quickly lost interest when I hit high school. I purposefully avoided all things political for many years through college and on into early adulthood.

Over the past few years, however, my appetite for politics has increased almost to the point of obsession here recently. I have found, however, that many of my views have changed from my early upbringing. I definitely wouldn't say that I re-entered the political world embittered by my early experience. In fact, I'd say quite the opposite! I re-entered with an open mind, especially in the previous presidential election where Sarah and I spent hours discussing how we should vote. I've spent endless hours reading about this presidential race as that has been the main focus of my interest. As I've been studying the candidates and following the headlines, I've continually struggled through the thought of how do I let my faith as a Christian influence my political views? I have tried my hardest to avoid political commentary and just let my views come from my own heart and mind.

The main struggle I've come against is the subconscious thought running through many American Christian minds (including mine until recently) that Christians must vote for Republicans. I know that most people would say that is false, but I think there is a very strong tendency to think that in many Christian circles. The problem I am facing now is that I don't really have anyone to talk through with this besides Sarah, who I fear I might drive mad talking about it all the time! So, I turn to my blog to work my thoughts out. I welcome your feedback. I would love to be challenged so that I can work out all the thoughts bouncing in my head.

As I've found myself moving to support Obama in this election, I've hit many questions that I am still working on answering. How can I support a candidate that voted to keep partial-birth abortions legal? How should I as a Christian feel about war? Does being anti-war mean doing nothing about terrorism? Is socialized health care the best way to provide health care to millions of Americans who cannot afford health care? Should homosexual marriage be legal?

So, over the next few weeks, I hope to post more of my thought process here for you to check out, read over, comment, and ask questions. I do want to point out that just because I am supporting Obama, do not think I find him flawless! I think one problem with the way we handle politics is that we often assume that because someone supports a candidate, they think he/she is perfect and the debate gets too heated. My purpose is not to evangelize a candidate. My purpose is to get my thoughts straight and hopefully engage some people in some interesting conversation!