The 30 Second Overview.

The 30-second Guide to some of My Beliefs:

Let me start by saying that the snippets below are a quick glance at what I believe.  Undergirding all of them is my understanding and interpretation of American history, the Constitution, and the Bible.  I consider myself a political moderate, an American, a Christian.  I love this country and the freedoms that I enjoy each and every day. 

I think many of us can agree that there are numerous issues that we need to address in order to continue to succeed.  As Abraham Lincoln put it once, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”  America is in danger of becoming a house divided if we do not start talking about these issues.  I don’t mean retreat to our separate corners and spout our talking points to prove we’re right.  I mean meeting in the middle and having open, honest dialogue.  Whatever your viewpoint is, I can guarantee that some part of this country disagrees with you.  The question is, are we willing to compromise in order to keep the ship afloat or are we going to stay in our corners and blame the other side while the ship sinks?

As I keep blogging, I want to explore these topics in more detail and engage in conversation.  Feel free to comment, even disagree with me.  I do ask that you keep the comments respectful and honestly engage in the conversation.  I will delete comments that only serve to attack people and do nothing to further the conversation.

Abortion – All life is precious, including life in the womb, and I will always support a woman’s right to choose what is best for her.

Birth Control – the decision to use or not use birth control should be left in the hands of the couple.

Gay Marriage – there’s a difference between what the secular government needs to recognize and what a religious church has to accept.

Gun Control – I have no problem with people owning guns.  I do have a problem with people owning assault rifles and semi-automatics.

Wages – at minimum, people should be able to earn a living wage working one 40-hour/week job.

Welfare – most people on government assistance are not welfare queens.  Most need some level of support for various legitimate reasons that cannot always be fixed.

Healthcare – Obamacare is a step in the right direction.  Access to the healthcare system should be a right, not a privilege.

Immigration – kicking out all the illegals is not a viable solution.  They must be presented with a pathway to citizenship.

Poverty and the homeless – we should be finding ways to help those in need and give them a hand up.

Christian America – We’re a democracy, not a theocracy.  We were not founded as a Christian nation.

Christianity & Politics – these are two separate spheres.  While my Christianity affects my politics, I do not believe that my Christianity should be my politics.  God does not belong to a political party.

Faith – it’s messy and complicated.  Anyone who wants to boil it down to black and white is oversimplifying it.  There are grey areas we have to wrestle with.