The blog of Ross Armer

But Ross, you’re a anglo-saxon (white) male heterosexual with a white-collar middle-class job, how can you be a “liberal”?   I get this question every time someone works out that I am a (gasp) Democrat.  The puzzled look on their face always draws a smirk from mine. Even my 9 year-old nephew recently and urgently informed me that I couldn’t be a Democrat because I am not black. Much to his dismay I had to explain I was “one of them”.

I’m going to use this post to try and explain how I’ve come to the belief system I have even though I live in a part of the country where only 14% of my fellow white men voted the way i did in 2008.   I hate to keep bringing up the race issue but I believe the cold hard stats require that it can not be ignored.  Now for a few of the questions I always get…

1:)  ”So you believe abortion is OK then?”

Let me answer this once and for all… No!  I personally believe that abortion is wrong and, as a Christian, immoral.  Having said that, I also understand that I am a man and will never be pregnant and faced with that choice.   I also understand that Roe vs. Wade was decided over a woman’s right to privacy in regards to her own body and not over whether the fetus is a human life or not.  This last question is one that has yet to be answered conclusively by any non-religious formula.  The second Science confirms that the fetus is in fact aware and has a conscience then the constitution of these great United States require that it be protected.  One could also argue that the fetus only becomes its own being when it can live outside of the womb, this would also be a valid legal argument.  If, however, we decide all laws based on our gut reaction or our religious convictions then we then live in a Theocracy and I thank God I do not live in a country where our laws are based on a particular religious dogma.

2:)  ”Well, you must be a communist.”

This one always leaves me scratching my head.   The argument boils down to this: either you believe in a 100% free market with no regulation whatsoever, or you are Marx, Stalin, and Mussolini all rolled into one.  Just the slightest effort to research history and you will find that whenever unregulated capitalism is allowed to flourish that is inevitably abuses the immense power it obtains.  This is logical as profit is the only motive in such a system.  If you were one of the few that lived on the right side of the tracks during the time of the robber barons at the turn of the 20th century then you loved this system.  If however you were with the majority of the country that was hurt by the ruthless and monopolistic practices of the time, you knew and were correct to think that there had to be a better way.  Moderate regulation is key to a healthy free market, just as pruning is required for a more healthy tree or bush.

3:) “How can you believe in God and also be a Democrat?”

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