Question of the Day...9/11/2001

Where were you and what were you doing when the terrorist attacks occurred? What was your initial reaction?

I am going to answer this myself first. It was a huge turning point in my life, I think. I was living in the garage apartment at the Parkinson's house. I woke up, turned on the television to watch the news, and that's when I saw the first building in flames. I watched for several minutes in complete disbelief, and then when I thought it couldn't get any worse, a second plane crashed into the second building. I saw it on Live tv. I remember one reporter in the background had been debating whether it was an accident or a terrorist attack, but after that second one happened, she began to panic. Then I began to panic. I ran downstairs to try and wake up the Parkinsons. I really thought we were under attack or something. I remember thinking that life as I know it will never be the same, and I was right.

Seven years later, terrorism is still a major problem in the world, and it will probably always be. Not long after we moved here to Germany, there was an attempted terrorist attack at the Frankfurt Airport. They traced the terrorists back to the town of Ulm...about 1.5 hours away from where we live in Reutlingen. Recently, it was uncovered that these men had plans of attacking about 5 other German airports. These were all attempts to target Americans. One of these 5 airports is the one we are flying out of on Sunday. It's kinda scary, but my trust and faith is in Jesus. Ok, enough of that. What are your thoughts?

What I Believe

I've had people who have questioned my morals and values over the last few weeks just for simply evaluating both presidential candidates fairly and without bias. I think that it's easy for people who don't really know me to judge me in such a harsh way. So I'd like to clear up some things.

I believe:

1. Most importantly, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the Bible is the infallible Word of God. I believe that my life must, in every way, reflect the mercy and grace that was given to me so freely in that I show the same grace and mercy to others.

2. Abortion and especially partial birth abortion are definitely the most hideous practices that we have in the U.S. I was talking to a German friend here, and he absolutely could not believe that in some states in the U.S. the practice of partial birth abortion is legal and acceptable. For people who say that life doesn't begin until such and such a time, I say, "How do you know?" Are you willing to take a chance on such an assumption? I am not. Life begins when Jesus breathes life into a child, and that happens at conception. Who are we as mere mortals to decide who lives and dies? We are not God, and we should not pretend to be.

3. The war in Iraq is an illegal and unethical war which is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people: our soldiers and innocent civilians. However, I believe that our soldiers are brave and are doing a noble thing by fulfilling the duty in which they were assigned. I think our soldiers' votes in this election should count twice!

4. The genocide that is going on in Zimbabwe and in other parts of Africa is one of the worst in our lifetime, and I think if they had oil, we'd be "liberating" them as well. Unfortunately, they have no one to fight for them, so women are being castrated and raped, children are being brutally murdered, and people are literally starving to death. No one is there to help them, and it grieves my heart more than you can imagine.

5. It is the church's job to provide the majority of the social services that the U.S. so desperately needs. How much money do we put into social activities and various programs in our churches that could be used to feed families in our communities who have no food? Why don't we have more orphanages that are church supported so that women who want to have an abortion have an alternative? The Bible says in James that true religion is taking care of the widows and orphans, and I think that many churches in America have missed the mark. Please note that I am not trying to dis the church, but I think that most of us can agree that for some churches the priorities just aren't in the right place. I can also say that there are many churches who are doing the right thing, but I just want to appeal to the ones who may not be.

6. Insurance companies in America are the bane of our existence. Because of insurance companies and their deals with doctors and hospitals, people are paying unbelievable prices for healthcare. There needs to be radical reforms here. I don't know if universal healthcare is the answer, but I think we can all agree that something has got to give.

7. Many people in America misuse their 2nd Ammendment rights, and as a result we have too many incredibly dangerous weapons on our streets. Why does a person need a semi-automatic or an automatic weapon? There is absolutely no reason! These types of guns are polluting our streets and causing the deaths of too many Americans. The laws need to be more strict, not less. Many would say, "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." And to that I say, if the person with the gun didn't have a gun, maybe that person on the other end would still be alive. Why are we so blah see when it comes to human life?

8. Racism in America and all over the world is completely unacceptable. To discriminate against someone based on religion or color is atrocious. We can all agree that people are people. Everyone has a vital role to play in this life, and how dare we suggest that one race is inferior to another. Our differences should be things we celebrate and respect. Some of the racial things that I've heard about Obama from people who live in my community have embarrassed me so much. I love the south and America, but I am ashamed of the racial prejudices we have in our country. I don't know how we bridge the gap, but we have to find a way.

9. Americans are some of the most wasteful people in the world, and we have to take responsibility for our actions and the damage our actions have caused to the environment. How many Americans drive gas-guzzling cars for no reason other than vanity? How many Americans drive around in F250s or 350s, and they don't even have a farm. Oil is not a renewable resource and America with its 300 million people uses 1/3 of the world's yearly oil supply. That is preposterous. On top of that, we don't recycle, and therefore, our landfills are overflowing and pollution is at an all time high. For the record, in Germany it is unacceptable for a person not to recycle. It is mandated here as it should be in America. I applaud Gov. Schwarzenegger for leading the way in these good practices in America.

Ok, so I think that's enough for now. I beg you, before you judge me, get to know me. If you have a question about what I say, ask, but don't attack me. You have your own opinions, and they are valid just like mine. I've been crushed by people this week who have even questioned my commitment to Christ. Please know that I weigh everything I believe against what the Bible says and the example that Jesus Himself left for us. I am changing and growing and learning (the reason for the title of this entire blog), and I am very opened to others' opinions as I continue on this journey of knowing Christ and following Him wholeheartedly. I welcome your thoughts and opinions, but I do not welcome personal attacks against me. I am willing to accept that I am wrong about certain issues, and I would hope that anyone who reads my blog is also open to the fact that they may also be wrong. We are all learning here. No one has all the answers, and we need to listen to one another rather than arguing. I hope this helps clear up some doubts that people have had about me. =)

Question of the Day

Why should Americans be FORCED to vote for the "lesser of two evils" come election day? I really wish someone would run for president who represents all of the issues that I and most Christians are passionate about!!

The Issues

Today, I've decided (since I'm still sick) to make a very comprehensive list of the the issues of both candidates. This goes beyond my list from yesterday. How many Americans have honestly gone to BOTH candidates' websites to read about where they (supposedly) stand on issues? Not a whole lot of people; I can pretty much guarantee that!

So here goes:



McCain:

*Energy
-Believes in breaking our dependence on foreign oil by utilizing our oil reserves at home and promotes off shore drilling as a short term solution until more efficient fuel methods are discovered. (How long is that going to actually take?)
-Wants to give a $5000 tax credit to those who buy a car with zero carbon emissions
-Wants to construct 45 nuclear power plants by 2030 with an ultimate goal of 100 total
-Wants to "encourage" the market in producing more wind, hydro, and solar energy sources

*National Security
-Believes in a stronger military and giving them all of the tools they need to combat terrorism and any threat to American soil.
-Believes in "shoring up our alliances".
-Wants to ensure "quality intelligence necessary to uncover plots before they take root, the resources to protect critical infrastructure and our borders against attack, and the capability to respond and recover from a terrorist incident swiftly."
-Supports a national missile defense system "to reduce the possibility of strategic blackmail by rogue regimes and to secure our homeland from the very real prospect of missile attack by present or future adversaries."
-Wants to make the military larger, give it all of the necessary tools it needs and increase funding, and decrease the frivolous and wasteful spending in the military

*Health Care
-Believes that health care is too expensive (yeah...duh).
-Believes that every citizen should have a right to healthcare.
-Want's to give every family $2500-5000 to offset the costs of insurance (that's really not that much...sorry).
-Wants to make insurance more portable. Say if you leave your job and go to another one, your insurance should go with you if you want.
-Encourages the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSA's), because there is more autonomy in health care choices. (Bosch just went to this form of insurance. Some people aren't sure how they feel about it yet.)
-Wants to help ensure those with pre-existing conditions
-Wants to "establish a nonprofit corporation that would contract with insurers to cover patients who have been denied insurance and could join with other state plans to enlarge pools and lower overhead costs. There would be reasonable limits on premiums, and assistance would be available for Americans below a certain income level."
-Wants to reform Medicaid and Medicare
-Supports tort reform that would basically not allow a doctor to be sued if he technically followed the correct protocols in his practice. This would, in theory, put an end to frivolous lawsuits.

*Iraq (I'm just going to paste the three paragraphs from McCain's website).
"John McCain believes it is strategically and morally essential for the United States to support the Government of Iraq to become capable of governing itself and safeguarding its people. He strongly disagrees with those who advocate withdrawing American troops before that has occurred.

It would be a grave mistake to leave before Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated and before a competent, trained, and capable Iraqi security force is in place and operating effectively. We must help the Government of Iraq battle those who provoke sectarian tensions and promote a civil war that could destabilize the Middle East. Iraq must not become a failed state, a haven for terrorists, or a pawn of Iran. These likely consequences of America's failure in Iraq almost certainly would either require us to return or draw us into a wider and far costlier war.

The best way to secure long-term peace and security is to establish a stable, prosperous, and democratic state in Iraq that poses no threat to its neighbors and contributes to the defeat of terrorists. When Iraqi forces can safeguard their own country, American troops can return home."

*Climate Change
-Believes that "climate policy should be built on scientifically-sound, mandatory emission reduction targets and timetables."
-"climate policy should utilize a market-based cap and trade system."
-"Climate Policy Must Include Mechanisms To Minimize Costs And Work Effectively With Other Markets."
-"Climate Policy Must Spur The Development And Deployment Of Advanced Technology."
-"Climate Policy Must Facilitate International Efforts To Solve The Problem."

*Veteran's Issues
-Believes in supporting and adequately funding the needs of service men, veterans, and those who become disabled serving our country
-Believes in providing great quality health care to our service men and women.
-Believes that it is our job to take care of our military as they have taken care of us.

*Immigration
-Wants to secure our borders, he has a comprehensive plan on how to go about doing that.
-Once borders are secure, he wants to initiate several measures that keep the nation secure: prosecute employers who employ illegal immigrants, ensure that we meet America's labor need (comprehensive plan for that too), ensure that undocumented aliens in the country go through the proper steps to become documented, perform background checks on aliens and deport those who have criminal records.
-Wants to ensure that all illegal, undocumented aliens either leave or follow correct paths in becoming legal residents.
-"Will commit to clearing out the backlog of individuals that are waiting legally outside of the country, some for up to 20 years, for their green card number to become available."

*Education (to summarize)
-Believes that student of any school that does not meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind policy should be able to change schools and attend one that does meet these standards.

*2nd Ammendment (The Right to Bear Arms)
-Strong supporter of the right of innocent civilians having and using guns
-Opposes legislation that holds gun manufacturers liable for crimes committed by third parties using firearms.
-Opposes restrictions on so called "assault rifles".
-Supports legislation in requiring gun manufacturers to install gun locks on firearms.
-Supports the use of instant background checks on individuals buy guns.
-Opposes waiting periods for purchasing guns.
-Wants stiffer penalties for people who use firearms in a crime.

*Santity of Life
-Supports overturning Roe v. Wade
-Does not support abortion, but believes in encouraging adoption and creating social services for women who "have the courage" to keep their babies.
-Does not support "fetal farming," or creating embryos in order to perform stem cell research, but he agrees with using other means (i.e. amniotic fluid, umbilical cord, etc) for research.
-Defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
-Opposes human cloning

Note: all quotes come directly from http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/. This is as concise as I could possibly be on the issues that I personally really care about. To view more, you can obviously go to John McCain's Website yourself and read everything.



On to Barack Obama:

*Health Care
-Supports Universal Healthcare
-No one will be turned away due to a pre-existing condition.
-Federal subsidies to help those who cannot afford the plan.
-It will be mandatory for all children to have health insurance.
-He will expand eligibility criteria for those needing Medicaid.
-Wants to lower costs by ensuring more competition in the insurance and drug markets.

*Taxes
-Wants to take tax breaks away from companies who are moving their businesses overseas.
-Wants to raise the minimum wage whenever necessary.
-Increase workers' ability to organize unions.
-Wants to double funding for afterschool programs, and expand the Family Medical Leave Act.

*Social Security
-Wants to preserve it and protect it from those who would want to privatize it.
-Wants to ensure that companies don't neglect their pension obligations.

*Education
-Wants to create a "Zero to Five" Early education program.
-Wants to reform the No Child Left Behind mandate.
-Wants to increase compensation for teacher who really excel at what they do
-Wants to decrease the dropout rate by investing in "proven intervention stategies."
-"Will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that will make tuition at the nation’s community colleges completely free and will cover up to two-thirds the cost of tuition at the nation’s public colleges and universities. This $4,000 tax credit will be fully refundable and available at the time of enrollment in college – when families need the money."

*Clean Energy Solutions
-Wants to implement the "cap and trade" program to reduce green house gas emissions (same as McCain)
-Wants to invest $150 billion over the next 10 years to deploy cleaner technologies
-Wants to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

*Women's Issues
-Supports legislation for equal pay for women, fight discrimination, and increase child care options.
-Will require that employers much provide for 7 paid sick days.
-Encourage states to promote paid leave of absenses
-Supports women's rights to choose whether or not to abort their babies; upholds Roe vs. Wade.
-"Obama will work to reduce unintended pregnancy by guaranteeing equity in contraceptive coverage, providing sex education, and offering rape victims accurate information about emergency contraception."
-"Obama will appoint a special advisor who will report to him regularly on issues related to violence against women. Obama will also pass legislation that provides job security to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault."

*Immigration
-Wants to secure the borders
-Remove incentives for people who enter the US illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants
-"Supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens." (One note: The line for coming into the US legally is about 20 years long).
-"Believes we need to do more to promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration."

*Iraq
-Did not support the war in the first place.
-Wants to bring the troops home within 16 months.
-Wants to engage in diplomatic measures to help Iraq become a stable country.

*Terrorism
-Wants to finish the fight in Afghanistan.
-Wants to crack down on Al-Qaeda in it's safe haven of Pakistan.

*Iran
-Does not support a war with Iran
-Wants strong diplomacy to "offer Iran the choice of increased international pressure or incentives if it stops its disturbing behavior."

*Military
-Also wants to increase the military and its technology.

Note: All quotes and information come from Barack Obama's, "The Blueprint for Change," which can be downloaded directly from his website: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/.

I hope that, for some people, this really helps clear up any misinformation that may have been received. You know, I really find it amazing that people will spend hours watching television or playing on the internet, but they hardly take time to find out the truth about their potential new president. This election is very important for America, as all elections are. How many of us take it for granted that we can actually vote? Remember that it wasn't so long ago that women and African Americans were not allowed to vote, and there are countries all over the world that are being oppressed by their governments. We are FREE!! Never take this for granted.

Wondering...

I am really struggling with who to vote for in this election. Honestly, I think both candidates are pretty full of crap...haha...sorry but that's just how it is. My faith in politicians isn't so high, as you can see.

McCain Pros:
Good military record and lots of experience
Seems to have a good energy idea (notice I didn't say plan)
Doesn't agree with EMBRYONIC stem cell research
Is not for abortion
Seems like a strong leader
Doesn't necessarily believe in bringing out our troops from Iraq until we clean up the mess we've made.
Strong reaction to the Russia/Georgia conflict

McCain Cons:
I don't really understand how someone can be pro-life but pro-war.
Off shore drilling is not a good idea...maybe a short term fix but not a solution
He's republican, and i am tired of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. There is, frankly no middle class anymore.
Possibly another George W. Bush, and frankly, the entire world is ready for that to be over.

Obama Pros:
Wants to ultimately get the troops out of Iraq
Seems to have good rapport with the rest of the world, so he may be able to restore a bit of our image.
Young and charasmatic
Wants a lot more funding for schools and education

Obama Cons:
Speaks really well, but I'm not sure he can honestly back up what he says.
Very wishy washy when it comes to matters of faith
Supports a woman's right to an abortion. What about the kid's rights? Or the dad's?
I'm not quite sure I'm for Universal health care...not completely sold on it yet. Do you know that Germans pay over $700 per month out of their paychecks to pay for their heathcare? How many Americans could honestly afford something like that?
He's democrat...I don't like them either...haha

This is just a preliminary list. I need some feedback from people who are actually in America. Give me your arguments. If you don't want to post them on the comments, you can email me (so that no one else will see) at mrsehl@gmail.com. Please, please give me some feedback!!

Beth