Online House Church Community

Dear sisters and brothers,

I know there's a wide variety of positions in this group on politics in general, and on this presidential race in particular, *and* on the topic of abortion, but I'd like you to hear me out--or I guess, read me through =). This seems very, very important to me.

I heard today that James Dobson has said that under no circumstances would he vote for John McCain--primarily because of McCain's position on homosexual marriage. McCain has said he does not believe homosexuality is wrong, and he is in favor of allowing civil unions, though he is not in favor of legalizing homosexual marriage.

I disagree with Mr. McCain's position on homosexuality--because it looks to me like the Bible disagrees with Mr. McCain's position on homosexuality--and I'm glad he does not believe homosexual marriage should be legal. But it seems to me that the inalianable human right to life far outweighs the issue of homosexual marriage.

Here are a comparison of Mrs. Clinton's, Mr. Obama's, and Mr. McCain's positions on abortion:

Hilary Clinton--
Strongly *supports* Roe v. Wade.
Voted *against* the Prohibit Partial Birth Abortion bill in 2003.
*Disagreed* with the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act."

Barack Obama--
*Opposes* any constitutional ammendment to overturn Roe v. Wade.
*Disagreed* with the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act."

John McCain--
Believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that *must be overturned*.
Voted *for* the Prohibit Partial Birth Abortion bill in 2003.
Voted "yes" for Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform Abortions ammendment in 2007.
*Supports* Supreme Court ruling upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.

NARAL (the National Abortion Rights Action League, which lobbies for increased abortion rights) is calling McCain "vehemently anti-choice," and NOW (the National Organization of Women, another strongly pro-choice group) points members to NARAL's site for voting information.

Mr. Dobson's decision not to vote for Mr. McCain under any circumstances really concerns me, particularly because of the influence Mr. Dobson has with American Christians. If Christians sit on our hands and don't vote because Mr. McCain doesn't think homosexuality is wrong, the Democratic candidate (whether that ends up being Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama) will win this presidential election. And not only do Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama think homosexuality is just fine and homosexual marriage should be legal, they also think abortion is just fine and partial birth abortion--in which a mature baby whose whole body has been delivered has scissors jammed into the base of his or her skull so that his or her brain can be sucked out through a vacuum tube--should be legal. (See http://www.abortionfacts.com/literature/literature_9313pb.asp for more info.)

Mr. McCain isn't perfect--in fact, all of the current contendres *and* our very political system are flawed--but it seems far and away better to me to get Mr. McCain elected--with at least a chance to save a few more babies lives--than to let Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama win by default, and see an entrenchment of Roe v. Wade, an overturn of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, pro-choice judges appointed to the Supreme court, and so on: in other words, an increase in abortions.

I want to strongly, strongly encourage each of you to think and pray about voting for Mr. McCain (assuming he wins the Republican primary), even though he's not your favorite candidate, because of his position on abortion as compared to Mrs. Clinton's and Mr. Obama's. It's our (the Church's) job to "rescue those being led away to death" and "hold back those staggering toward slaughter" (Prov 24:11) and this looks to me like one way--an important way--we can do that.

Thank you for reading to the end.

With love,
Lucy S. R. Austen
gathering with the Koinania Community over in Washougal/Battle Ground/Hockinson/Vancouver

P. S. National Right to Life offers a Presidential Comparison Chart so you can see all of the candidates on all of the issues lined up next to each other--it's on their website, www.nrlc.org, just below the bottom of the page as it is displayed when it first loads.

P.P.S. Those of you who are interested may feel free to copy and past this into an email to your friends.