Regarding the political issue, let me use abortion as an example. One can be anti-abortion and that is respectable enough if that’s what the position is. I can be on board with an argument that looks at the sanctity of life and that we should protect it for the unborn.

The problem is that those who espouse the position are espousing pro-life. That is another thing altogether. Pro-life mean that you favor the protection of all life regardless of age or behavior. So, if you do not support any legal form of abortion, then you must also support life among the already born. For example, you must also support programs to make adoptions a better process than it is since if we make abortion illegal, there will be even more unwanted babies on the street who will grow up in non-nurturing environments and this we know is a predictor of delinquency!

This would be my alternative. There are cases when it is better to save the mother at the expense of the unborn baby. But if we make abortion illegal, and want to be pro-life, the social structures must be in place to mitigate the fear and ostracism that pregnant, young, unwed mothers now face.

However, because this crosses the “liberal” line, conservative policy makers are not apt to go there which is a shame and it is unreasonable. the blame seems to continue to be on the mother who gets pregnant. After all, birth control is not supported by many insurance providers, but viagra is!

First, I’m very straight. I’ve gotten tired of the conservative right (and I’m a conservative) only addressing two issues. It seems that most of my conservative fellows believe that abortion and homosexuality are the root of all evil (and it was really common in the last decade to use the phrase about “the doom of America”). They ignore other issues an have all fingers pointing to abortion and homosexuality. For example they completely gloss over what Jesus said about anger, hate, love, etc. What they might call the hardline on homosexuality “love”, but to the outside it looks like hate. Smells like hate. Tastes like hate.

Second, I’ve gotten tired of conservatives forcing GLBT into ex-gay groups. Honestly, most have no idea what an ex-gay group, but they’ve only heard somewhere that it works. But they don’t know the long-term harm it does to almost all the people who are in the group—I don’t need to explain that to you.

Several years ago I got an email from a conservative fellow who asked how he should witness to a co-worker who liked to cross-dress at home. I said to leave the co-worker alone.

I’m in Nashville and know that Lifeway doesn’t hire gay people—I also know some of the people who work there and they aren’t straight. On a much sadder note I meet with people who dare not tell their pastor they are gay or they will be ostracized.

So in the end–maybe this is a religiously political issue for me. Political in the sense I see a wrong and want to help make it right. May it is more social-religious.

As for my conservative fellows–I place most of the “blame” on the leaders because they preach issues from the pulpit, and them the members hang onto it without really searching out the answers for themselve. The leaders don’t seem to be moving out to right wrongs in other areas…there are few voices about spouse abuse, the environment, or really even pornography. Maybe a rambling moment in a sermon now and then, but there are no marches on the court house, rallies or petitions.

My intent/goal is to be a voice out there to the straight community to inform them of things they ought to know already. I want to be a bridge builder between the gay and straight communities.

Contact me if there are any other questions. My email is cherylmosstyler@aol.com