Either Way I Vote, Someone Dies

As we approach the final stretch in this voting season many things come to mind. All of the candidates claim "Christ." Some do so more than others, but they all claim they are Christians. From the Democrat side Clinton and Obama are the ones in the forefront. For the Republicans, McCain and Huckabee. No big news there. My concern is what "Christ" they claim. For me, it is a matter of conscience on whom I vote for. The book of James 1:27 says this: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world." It is no secret that I utterly abhor abortion. I always ask the question to its supporters, "You don't have a problem with 'you' being born or staying alive now do you!" To which most respond that "life begins when it's outside of the womb." However, even scientists have come up with a list of seven items that identify something as having "life." And guess what? A fertilized egg meets all of the scientific prerequisites! So where do the "Christian" candidates stand in regards to this? Both Clinton and Obama are highly pro-abortion, McCain has flip-flopped and Huckabee is very pro-life. Oh what to do?

Another big issue is still the war in Iraq. I served in Iraq a few years ago. It definitely had its moments. One of the craziest things for me was to see empty caskets stacked 20 ft high waiting for bodies to fill them. Some pictures never leave your mind. I truly feel awful for the Marines, Army, Navy and AF cats who go over there time and again for 1-2 years at a time. I share with them the pain of hearing your children cry because you are not home and the worry in their voices when they watch the news. But I know that there is a 'just' reason that we stay over there and fight. I volunteered to come in the AF and I volunteered to go to Iraq. Same with a lot of those guys and gals there right now. But we choose knowing what we were in for. We choose knowing that it really could cost us our lives. We choose to do what we do because we believe it is the right thing to do. Do we wish things were better over there by now? SHhh yeah! Would we rather be home? You know it. But we also know that there are things far beyond us like the safety of our families and the defense of this country we have all come to know and love (despite its inherent evils). John McCain knows first hand about fighting in a war that we probably shouldn't be in. And honestly, I think all the candidates would probably want to bring the troops home. But right now doesn't seem to be the best time. Clinton and Obama would probably bring everyone back home within a year of being elected President. McCain and Huckabee would probably wait some years to see how things work out.

I guess my biggest problem with all this is the fact that Clinton and Obama will fight to bring "voting" Americans home to spare their lives, but won't fight for the life of an unborn child. And again, they call themselves Christians. It seems so easy to fight for someone who may seem angry about something and get on their side, but who sides for fatherless? Who sides for the victim? Where else do they look to protect those who need help? Honestly, all the candidates have failed in that area. But as for me, I have to side with the conscience of my faith. Not one of these candidates is going to make all of America better. However, maybe one can speak for the lives of those who don't have a voice. Our airmen and soldiers know what they're in for. Let them voice their opinion just as much as they fight for it. But let us not forget the fatherless who need us to speak up for them.

As the title goes, this election campaign will not be easy. Someone will die as a result of how we vote. The big question is who will we give the fighting chance to- The unborn child or the Soldier?