Reply #73: Yes

[EffieBlack]

To quote Dr. King, ""It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."

I'm less concerned about any candidate or public official's personal views than I am about their policies. I am a Christian. But that would never stop me from supporting an atheist or a Jew or a Muslim or anyone else on the basis that their religious views, or lack thereof, differ from mine. As long as they don't impose their religious views on me or the country in their official actions, I couldn't care less. And I feel the same way about anyone whose religious views are the SAME as mine - I don't want them forcing their views on me or anyone else either. I don't have the time or even the right to worry about everyone else's religious views - I have enough on my hands trying to follow my own heart and conscience without worrying about about everyone else's.

There have been a number of politicians, past and present, who have held views on race that I don't necessarily agree with. But unless their racial attitudes affect their work, I can't worry about their personal opinions. Harry Truman was widely known as a bigot who often made friends uncomfortable with his unashamed use of the n-word in casual conversation. But he did not let his questionable personal attitudes affect his actions - and, in fact, changed the course of history with his courageous and, for that time, wildly progressive moves, such as issuing executive orders integrating the armed forces and setting up the Fair Employment Practices Commission.

We all have biases and prejudices. Every one of us. It is not a sin to have them, but it is, in my view, wrong to pretend they don't exist, thereby failing make any effort to rise above them. And I believe that politicians who may personally feel that homosexuality is wrong or that abortion is murder or that mixed marriages are a sin or that evolution is a myth or that there is no God should not, ipso facto, be barred from public office if they do not force those views onto their constituents, either in practice or in law.

So, I am perfectly comfortable with a candidate who believes that abortion is the taking of a human life or that homosexuality is deviant, if they also recognize the right of others to disagree and to live their lives free of constraints imposed on them by the religious teachings of others.

That's the very essence of being pro-choice. It doesn't mean that I have to agree with you. It means that I respect your right to have a different view and to make your choices accordingly without any coercion from the government or anyone else. Being pro-choice on abortion does not necessarily mean thinking that abortion is fine and dandy, that it is not a bad thing; being pro-choice on abortion means that, regardless how you personally feel about abortions, you respect the views of others who have a different opinion of it than you do.