Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am a 26 year old male who was brought up in a very conservative Republican, Catholic, 100% Italian family, in rural Connecticut. I have always voted Republican in every election (national, state and local) passionately. Now, as I get older, wiser and learn more about our world, I can't help but feel that the conservative Republican way is not the best for America and humanity in general.
Party lines aside, at this time, I would classify myself as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal." I do not like big debt and out of control spending. We should not be spending money we don't have unless it can be paid off in a reasonable amount of time. And we should always strive to have a fair tax system.
On the other hand, I have recently left religion and discovered that I am atheist and believe that all religion is manmade and should have no place in public policy. It's perfectly fine for the American people to practice any religion they choose, but the part that really angers me is when we see people defending things such as keeping the Ten Commandments in public buildings and the like. Or when people say this country was founded on Christian principles, which is utterly false. There are circumstances in which abortion is a perfectly fine procedure and we should pursue stem cell research further. And lastly...the biggest no brainer, is that gay couples should have the right to marry. Most homosexuals grew up in traditional Christian families and contribute to society no more or less than heterosexuals. The government seriously needs to stop being involved in peoples' love lives.
With that said, I am seriously considering voting for Barack Obama in 2012. Trust me...I absolutely despised him back in 2008. I had a McCain bumper sticker on my car and enjoyed going home and trash-talking about him with my parents every night during the pre-election months. This doesn't mean that I approve of him as a president all of a sudden, but I am truly disgusted by social conservatives that live in most of the red states across America. Basically, in order to be accepted by them, you have to be Christian, white and heterosexual. This has got to end. And, what disgusted me to great lengths was when Bush setup a "faith-based initiative" fund that gave public funds to Evangelical organizations. This led to the removal of the teachings of evolution from science books, which were replaced with creationism (the idea that God spontaneously created the world).
If I vote Republican again, it will revert America back toward a path of social intolerance, hate against gays and atheists, and other minority groups. Take a good look at all of our potential 2012 GOP candidates. All of them are anti-gay, Christian right-wingers. We need greater separation of church and state and greater social tolerance. I'm sorry to report, but we have a long way to go.
Besides, most Republican tax breaks and spending cuts are hardly life changing anyway. I'd rather pay more tax and see women have the right to choose and see same-sex couples get married.
The unspoken truth of much of the Republican party is that they have a hidden agenda to assimilate the laws of the Bible into modern day policy. They just don't want to admit it or talk about it. They defend things just for the sake of defending it, even if it's truly wrong. But that's just what's happening and I can't see my country which I love so much go backward like that.
I am a 26 year old male who was brought up in a very conservative Republican, Catholic, 100% Italian family, in rural Connecticut. I have always voted Republican in every election (national, state and local) passionately. Now, as I get older, wiser and learn more about our world, I can't help but feel that the conservative Republican way is not the best for America and humanity in general.
Party lines aside, at this time, I would classify myself as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal." I do not like big debt and out of control spending. We should not be spending money we don't have unless it can be paid off in a reasonable amount of time. And we should always strive to have a fair tax system.
On the other hand, I have recently left religion and discovered that I am atheist and believe that all religion is manmade and should have no place in public policy. It's perfectly fine for the American people to practice any religion they choose, but the part that really angers me is when we see people defending things such as keeping the Ten Commandments in public buildings and the like. Or when people say this country was founded on Christian principles, which is utterly false. There are circumstances in which abortion is a perfectly fine procedure and we should pursue stem cell research further. And lastly...the biggest no brainer, is that gay couples should have the right to marry. Most homosexuals grew up in traditional Christian families and contribute to society no more or less than heterosexuals. The government seriously needs to stop being involved in peoples' love lives.
With that said, I am seriously considering voting for Barack Obama in 2012. Trust me...I absolutely despised him back in 2008. I had a McCain bumper sticker on my car and enjoyed going home and trash-talking about him with my parents every night during the pre-election months. This doesn't mean that I approve of him as a president all of a sudden, but I am truly disgusted by social conservatives that live in most of the red states across America. Basically, in order to be accepted by them, you have to be Christian, white and heterosexual. This has got to end. And, what disgusted me to great lengths was when Bush setup a "faith-based initiative" fund that gave public funds to Evangelical organizations. This led to the removal of the teachings of evolution from science books, which were replaced with creationism (the idea that God spontaneously created the world).
If I vote Republican again, it will revert America back toward a path of social intolerance, hate against gays and atheists, and other minority groups. Take a good look at all of our potential 2012 GOP candidates. All of them are anti-gay, Christian right-wingers. We need greater separation of church and state and greater social tolerance. I'm sorry to report, but we have a long way to go.
Besides, most Republican tax breaks and spending cuts are hardly life changing anyway. I'd rather pay more tax and see women have the right to choose and see same-sex couples get married.
The unspoken truth of much of the Republican party is that they have a hidden agenda to assimilate the laws of the Bible into modern day policy. They just don't want to admit it or talk about it. They defend things just for the sake of defending it, even if it's truly wrong. But that's just what's happening and I can't see my country which I love so much go backward like that.
These 70 year old Tea Partier's today were full bore racists back in the 60's.
It is a generational thing. The most conservative generation in the last 100 years was the lost, even though they did not receive the benefits the GI Gen did and they voted GOP until death.
With that said, I am seriously considering voting for Barack Obama in 2012. Trust me...I absolutely despised him back in 2008. I had a McCain bumper sticker on my car and enjoyed going home and trash-talking about him with my parents every night during the pre-election months. This doesn't mean that I approve of him as a president all of a sudden, but I am truly disgusted by social conservatives that live in most of the red states across America. Basically, in order to be accepted by them, you have to be Christian, white and heterosexual.
What makes absolutely no sense to me is that you have decided to make a change in your politics based on the false premise that conservatives are white bigots. And to prove solidarity with liberal democrats you're now going to support Barack Obama for president in 2012 to show you're "different". You even say that you'd vote for him "not because you approve of him being president all of a sudden" but to just shove it in the face of those white bigots in the south.
You're still very young, you're trying to sort it all out, but you're going about it all wrong. Changing your political views because of what "other" people do, say or believe isn't showing that you have any integrity or conviction in what you believe.
What makes absolutely no sense to me is that you have decided to make a change in your politics based on the false premise that conservatives are white bigots. And to prove solidarity with liberal democrats you're now going to support Barack Obama for president in 2012 to show you're "different". You even say that you'd vote for him "not because you approve of him being president all of a sudden" but to just shove it in the face of those white bigots in the south.
You're still very young, you're trying to sort it all out, but you're going about it all wrong. Changing your political views because of what "other" people do, say or believe isn't showing that you have any integrity or conviction in what you believe.
Typical.
Where would anyone get the idea that GOP base voters are bigots?
You are simply experiencing a delayed parental rebellion - you will be liberal for maybe 5 - 10 years - then, if you become a productive member of society, you will learn to separate family rebellion from the truth. I went through this stage while in High School and College (I was a big Jimmy Carter supporter), and then gained my senses (Reagan in 80)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
