Another Independent Taking a Stand

As a new member of ProgressiveU.org's blogging site, I wanted to take a post and talk about myself for a bit. Politically, I'm Independent: I don't subscribe to a certain party and I relish the freedom to vote for whoever I like without feeling the tug of party responsibility. I see the pros and cons of both major American political parties and if asked which way I lean, I'd have to say that it depends on the issue.

Religiously, I'm a fairly conservative, Bible-believing Christian. I have strong beliefs about certain moral matters. However, I also believe in commandments like "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) and "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). I'm not interested in bashing individual people, but I have every intention of giving my beliefs on matters that I have an opinion on. I would ask that you readers respect my right to speak and believe things just like I respect your rights. Christians are often told they are close-minded and conformist. I think that if any person rejects another's beliefs based on preconceived notions of what their beliefs are or what those beliefs mean about that person, they are being close-minded.

An example: Joe finds out Mark is a Christian and that Mark believes abortion is wrong. Instead of asking what Mark's reasons are, he assumes that the only reason Mark doesn't like abortion is because Mark is a Christian. Obviously Mark doesn't have any legitimate reasons, so Joe rolls his eyes and tells Mark he's close-minded. Who's actually being the close-minded one in this situation?

All that said, I will probably focus less on singularly "Christian" topics because my goal is to discuss politics and current popular topics. Nonetheless I'm coming from a Christian worldview, so it must be understood that my beliefs will impact what I say. I urge you as a reader to give me the benefit of the doubt, as you would any other writer, and let me have my say in the good ol' fashioned American way. =)

Well, let's get to it!