Family Values Voters
With recent changes in the US Presidential race polls there has been a grasping by the media to explain what is going on. Dubbed the “Palin push” this phenomenon is currently being attributed to an upsurge in political activism by conservative women who see the VP pick as a reflection of their own values.
And herein lies the problem, I don’t really know why it never struck me earlier (maybe it did and I’m just not recalling right now). It’s not that the “Family Values” voter wants a candidate who shares their vales, but rather, wants to make sure that those values are reflected in national policy. They want these values enforced.
Now excuse me, but part of the whole aspect of “Freedom of Religion” is it is an implicit recognition that we all have different values based upon our own faith (or lack thereof), and that one could define freedom is the ability to live within a framework of ones own personal values (excepting where they inhibit another from having the same opportunity). to the “family values” voter, this is not enough, the presence of those living by a different set of ethical and/or moral behavior, is seen as a threat to their own moral code. This, in my view, is a tacit admission of just how weak they think their values are.
All of us, to one degree or another have a value position we wouldn’t mind seeing enacted into a law, however, flip that coin over and you’re not so happy. Having a particular dogma promoted by a government is great, as long as it’s yours.
I wish that for just a moment voters who value “values” and thier protection would understand this basic fact, that the only way to protect any level of “family values” in by ensuring the freedoms supposedly guranteed by the U.S. Constitution for us to each hold our values as our own. Vote for the candidate that is going to let you hold onto your own values and not subject you to anyone elses.