Benchmark of civilization: Support for the Enlightenment values embedded in the United States Constititution, and in particular for keeping religion a private matter, so that no religious group can use the power of the state to impose religious or moral conformity to its faith on other religious groups, or on the nonreligious. The Enlightenment came about as a reaction to centuries of devout Christian governments making war on other governments that were not the same kind of devout Christians, and subjecting their own citizens to arrest on the bare accusation of religious dissent, to torture until they confessed, and then to punishments ranging from exile to painful death. I don't have any desire to go back, and the Republicans seem to be firmly in the grip of people who don't see anything wrong with state-imposed religion, as long as it's theirs—and when the state has the power to favor one religion over another, that's where it leads.
Touchstone issue: Abortion. Sarah Palin's stance on abortion nailed the coffin shut on any chance of my voting for McCain. I'm not quite a one-issue voter, but I consider that particular issue vitally important, and being on the wrong side pretty much rules a candidate out for me. So, in practice, I don't consider a community where the general consensus is anti-abortion to be civilized. If there are Republican-leaning areas that don't have such a consensus, I'll make an exception for them.
As I said, it startled me to realize that my views had shifted so far. But then, my actual views have not changed; I still hold the same beliefs and values I had when I thought the Republicans were the more civilized party. It's the Republicans who've changed.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-10-17 12:38 am (UTC)Touchstone issue: Abortion. Sarah Palin's stance on abortion nailed the coffin shut on any chance of my voting for McCain. I'm not quite a one-issue voter, but I consider that particular issue vitally important, and being on the wrong side pretty much rules a candidate out for me. So, in practice, I don't consider a community where the general consensus is anti-abortion to be civilized. If there are Republican-leaning areas that don't have such a consensus, I'll make an exception for them.
As I said, it startled me to realize that my views had shifted so far. But then, my actual views have not changed; I still hold the same beliefs and values I had when I thought the Republicans were the more civilized party. It's the Republicans who've changed.