The Voice - Student Newspaper

Don't let that pretty face fool you

By Mary Allan
Reporter, The VOICE

I am a woman, and I am voting this fall. Does that mean that I am going to vote for the John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket? NO! While I am glad for Palin's success as a woman, that does not mean I am automatically going to vote for her.

Her stances on issues are more important to me than what gender she is. She is a conservative and I am not.

I get the impression that the teachings of her church are going to have a huge influence on how she conducts herself in office.

Her pastor says, "I believe Sarah [Palin] would not live in a fragmented world. The idea that Sarah [Palin] would take this huge influence of the worldview that really only the Bible and the relationship with Jesus opens up and suddenly marginalize it and put it over on the shelf somewhere and live apart from it—that would be entirely inconsistent."

I do not agree with her views on social issues. She does not believe in choice or even birth control as far as I can tell. She opposes abortion even when the woman is a victim of incest or rape. She does draw the line at death.

She is against same sex marriage. Her church has also come under fire among some gay advocacy groups for promoting an upcoming Focus on the Family conference in Anchorage dealing with the so-called 'curing of homosexuality.' She advocates the teaching of intelligent design (a form of biblical creationism) in school. This is the part where I really am not on her side.

She suggested that all types of theories be discussed in schools. Don't let her fool you. She is just trying to find a way to introduce her beliefs into the school system.

Fundamentalist Christians are not interested in giving both theories weight. They won't compromise their belief on the origins of life any more than they will on abortion or gay rights.

(If anyone is really interested in a provocative and thoughtful debate on this subject they should read "Intelligent Design Without the Bible" by Deepak Chopra, an article on the Huffington Post blog.)

I believe that fundamentalist Christians are intolerant on some level. Isn't religious intolerance what we are fighting against right now? I am not saying Christians are as intolerant as Islamic extremist. Christians don't murder their women because they want to save face in the public square.

However intolerance is intolerance and I don't want eight more years of old white men, no matter what form they come in.