Unnatural Coexistence

Saturday night, I spent a wonderful evening out at the Scottish Arms: the only bar in the Lou were waiters and waitresses are in kilts and scotch is separated on the menu by the region which distills it. Good friends, good food and a good Scottish band (pictured below) all made the night one of the most enjoyable in recent memory.



As is custom when I gather with this group of friends, the conversation turned to politics. With Tuesday’s elections, we had a great deal to discuss. I tried to be humble, showing my pleasure in victory, but not obnoxious. I was being a smartass though in joking that the revolution of the common man was coming and soon conservatives’ backs would be against the wall.

S and A rebuked me for believing I was one of the people. For them, I was another elitist Democrat who had no idea how the poor lived. Both A and S agreed that there were people who needed assistance, and they would go so far as to say that Democrats could provide better health care and education. But two things prevented them from voting Democratic and made them into GOPers.

The first issue was abortion. Both A and S strongly believe that life begins at conception. A human fetus is the same as a twelve year old. I respect their opinion and right to have it. As I have said in the past, if you believe that life begins the moment the sperm and egg meet then you should vote that way. Personally, I believe the GOP has used this issue to rally the troops and has tried little to actually make abortion illegal. So, while I respect their opinion and want them to vote for candidates who represent it, the Democratic Party is becoming a big tent party. Recently victorious, Senator-elect Casey of Pennsylvania believes abortion is wrong. The Democratic Party is beginning to get it right that pro-choice should not be a litmus test for the party. A person such as A or S may want better health care or education, but they need to be able to pursue their pro-life opinion as well.

The second issue was the people who are members of the Democratic Party. A stated it best, in that he viewed the party is that of self-labeled intellectuals who not only have little real world concepts, but be-little and mock those of faith and those who disagree with them. I can easily see his argument, and that is sad. Many times, the leaders and members of the Democratic Party appear as know-it-alls, not only know-it-alls, but those who smirk at the very foundations of many people’s beliefs. The idea of faith in God, working hard and the quite family life are cores, which guide the majority of our country. Yet, Democrats insist on being the popular, cool, and enlightened thinkers who not only know better, but will come to the defense of those who cannot take care of themselves: African-Americans, unions and the poor.

Friday night, I listened. As A said, most of his Democratic friends just listen and then tell him were he is wrong. I believe that he is wrong in this that all Democrats are what he described. The mass majority of Democrats are people of faith-mostly faith in Jesus. We desire a family to grow old with and believe those who work hard should be rewarded. We are not intellectuals or smarter than the average bear. We just want to help everyone have a fair shot at succeeding. We believe America is rich enough and strong enough that no one in our country should: go to bed hungry, not receive a good education or worry about medical bills. We believe America needs to reclaim its city on the hill light and point the way to democracy for other nations not through violence but aid and moral authority.

Like I said, I only listened, and soon the conversation turned to something else. Before we knew it, last call was on and the signing men in kilts struck up a tune.