SORE LOSERS
As many of you know, XXXchurch stays out of telling you how to vote or when to vote. We do urge you to check out our new campaign Porn Is Bipartisan.
Yesteday was Super Duper Tuesday and Sunday was the Superbowl. A couple things from these events that bothered me. Sore losers.
1. James Dobson, the influential founder of the conservative, evangelical advocacy group Focus on the Family, has delivered a blow to John McCain — by saying he won’t vote for him if he’s the Republican presidential nominee. “I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are … I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life,” he said. Dobson said he was just expressing his views as a private citizen — but many of his millions of followers in the evangelical community, who listen to his radio show and read his books, will take it as a signal to do the same. Read More.
2. If you watched the confusing last seconds of the Super Bowl, you might think that Bad Loser Bill was confused or that he thought the game was actually over. But, then you saw him nearly knock over referee Mike Carey to perform his obligatory "hug" of the winning coach Tom Coughlin. Staying on the field until the last possible breath of hope is gone is the very least you can expect of an athlete or a coach. Call it protocol, tradition, or simple class. It's what people do. When you ditch the last seconds of a brutal loss like that, you are literally turning your back on your team. Heck, if every coach who was sick of losing a big game were to leave when it was obvious his team would not win, Marv Levy and Dan Reeves would have shown us their tail lights by halftime during some years. When you lose, be a bigger man than the guy who just beat you. Shake his hand. Offer sincere congratulations. And then you can retreat to a dark room and pout. Belichick doesn't get it, and probably never will. But the media and the league seem to walk around him in fear. For a league that fines players $10,000 for wearing an unapproved hat to media day, how come they didn't have the balls to fine Belichick for leaving the field early? Read More.
I do hope and pray that Belichick does change his perspective on things.
As humans we do not want to admit we are wrong. We are too prideful and arrogant. It is even said to see that in the Christian community. How is those who need to see Christ in us but yet we do not walk humbly with God?
Good blog.
-Anthony
I dont understand Dobson's objection though, because McCain - though not so socially conservative as Huckabee - is still beyond doubt a conservative. He opposes gay marriage, wants to overturn Roe, is very strongly militaristic - big supporter of military expansion and continuing occupation of Iraq indefinatly - opposes government involvement in healthcare and education. Other than gun control (An issue on which Dobson couldn't care less), he ticks all the boxes. He only appears to be non-conservative in comparison with the other candidates who, in addition to ticking all those boxes, have also been more willing to turn a blind eye to the use of torture by the US and to take a tougher stance on immigration.
Huckabee's failure today - he is down by a wide margin - is a clear signal that even the Republican party is either rejecting or just getting sick of the old Religious Right approach of self-proclaimed moral superiority and public shows of Christianity.
Returning to the sites theme of pornography and the candidates positions:
-McCain: Doesn't like. Wants to increase resources for fighting child-porn... but who doesn't? Pushed for a manditory filtering law - when the attempt struggled due to a lack of support (ie, it was a very bad idea), he made it an ammendment to an appropriations bill. Shortly after he accused Democrats of using the bill to pass unpopular earmark programs.
-Romney: Against, strongly, but in some ways slightly crazy. Blamed pornography for the virginia tech shooting. Was involved in a minor scandle when it was revealed he had profited from porn supplied by a company he sits on the board of directors of, but claimed he was unaware that hotels offer porn in their rooms.
-Huckabee: Wants to strictly enforce existing obscenity law, with jail sentences for those involved in its production or distribution. Has compared pornography to abortion, drug use and 'environmentalism' - evidently something he considers equally unacceptable. Expressed the desire to change the law to make all sexually explicit content illegal to possess, distribute or produce - including sort porn.
-Obama: Doesn't care one bit. Not in the slightest. Porn just isn't an issue for him at all.
-Clinton: Also doesn't care one bit. Has also tried to expand anti-pedophile enforcement... but again, hardly contriversial.
selectarrow.wordpress.com
I find it interesting that when somebody one agrees with politically follows his conscience and does an unpopular thing, he is held up as a paragon of virtue; yet when somebody you disagree with politically does the same, he's a sore loser.
dave
As for Dobson... I've always had a 'lesser of two evils' policy on politics. I don't have to like any of these guys, in fact I probably won't, I just have to vote for the best/least objectionable guy.
As for any site that lists exact issues... I'm always skeptical. Politicians change there opinion and bounce around daily. I've seen viewpoint cheat sheets that contradict each other, televised debates, printed remarks, etc. Granted, it all starts to contradict itself after a while.
Conservatives have to deal with some conflicts between their subdivisions. Political conservatives want to minimise spending, military conservatives want to spend hundreds of billions on defence. Social conservatives want federal laws passed banning porn and abortion and banning gay marriage, while political conservatives want the feds to stay out of any issue they dont have very good reason for getting involved with and leave such concerns to each state. Dobson himself compared conservatism recently to a three-legged stall, able to survive only if the social, political and military conservatives worked together. What he failed to mention is that they have very different objectives - the only thing they have in common is that they are all in opposition to the liberals.
His issue with McCain is a sort of ideological purge - Dobson knows McCain is a conservative, but doesn't consider him conservative *enough* - he wants someone who will take the social conservative line always, and never - never, ever - make an exception. That would be Huckabee.
