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Pagan

Five Reasons to Vote for Obama

October 28, 2012 by Gus diZerega

Continued from Page 2

I could go on, but this case alone is sufficient to allow the court's composition to affect the future of every citizen and all their children.

The next president will almost certainly appoint one or two justices, and Justice Ginsberg will probably be one who retires. She is one of the minority of liberal justices, and a conservative one in her place will make the court a bastion of antidemocratic reaction for many years to come.

As we Pagans increase in public visibility, we can be certain that the radical right will do what it can to make our religion and our lives more difficult. Having their allies dominate the Supreme Court will make their task easier, our well-being more difficult.

4) Religion and Politics

The theocratic right's stranglehold on the Republican Party is a threat to Pagans and to all Americans. That people like Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock have a chance at national office is powerful testimony to the debasement of the Republican Party and the peril we all face as a result. The Republicans are powerfully influenced by an organization, The Family. The Family includes a high number of Republican senators and representatives, and it explicitly seeks to establish theocracy in the United States. John Cornyn, a member,has defended Mourdock's argument that women must be forced to carry to term babies conceived during rape.

5) Basic Humanity

Some reasons for voting for Obama instead of Romney should cross all genuine religious boundaries. Religion brings us to awareness that there are contexts larger than our self-interest, larger than our nationalism, larger than any focus on immediate gain. Religion at its best teaches that human beings are of value in themselves, and we should treat others with care and respect, even love. By this standard I cannot understand how any genuinely religious person could support Mitt Romney.

The stories of Romney's inability to act humanely go back for years, from assaulting a gay fellow student and cutting his hair against his will, to his treatment of the family dog, to comments about enjoying being able to fire people, and more. Here are a few I think give us a sense of the kind of man he would be with more power over us all.

Mitt Romney does not oppose torture.
Mitt Romney is not concerned about health care for the uninsured because they can always go to the emergency room, which is evidence that he does not understand people in circumstances different from his own. If people have access to health care, they can get the preventive care they need in order not to have to go to the emergency room. Preventative care is cheaper, but more to the point, it is also more humane.
Romney has surrounded himself with the most aggressive war advocates from the old Bush administration. Given his inability to comprehend even the relationship of Syria to Iran, we can be sure his decisions will be disproportionately dependent on the people who gave us the Iraq War, and who are lusting after an attack on Teheran.
At the same time, Romney disrespects soldiers so much that he said his sons participating in his campaigns amounted to serving the country as much as serving in the military. No fluke, Ann Romney explained Mitt's missionary work in Paris for the Mormon Church was the moral equivalent of serving in Vietnam.

This has not been a pleasant piece to write. Dipping into the political and spiritual nihilism of America's right wing is a toxic undertaking. And I have just scratched the surface.

Barack Obama is not a candidate that I can get enthusiastic about supporting simply on his own merits. But when we look at the alternative, the choice becomes simple, clear, and without doubt. Barack Obama is not a cruel man; he is not a theocrat; he is not an enemy of women's strength, and married a strong one; and his style is without the pathetic swagger of the pseudo-masculine poseurs on the right. While I see the world quite differently than he does, I think Barack Obama, unlike his opponent, will preserve the possibility for us as Pagans and as citizens to work to make our country and our world a better place for all.

Content Director's Note: This post is a part of our Election Month at Patheos feature. Patheos was designed to present the world's most compelling conversations on life's most important questions. Please join the Facebook following for our new News and Politics Channel -- and check back throughout the month for more commentary on Election 2012. Please use hashtag #PatheosElection on Twitter.

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About Gus diZerega

Gus diZerega is a Gardnerian Elder with over 25 years practice, including six years close study with a Brazilian shaman. He has been active in interfaith work off and on for most of those 25 years as well. He has conducted workshops and given presentations on healing, shamanism, ecology and politics at Pagan gatherings in the United States and Canada. Follow Gus on Facebook. Gus blogs at Pointedly Pagan

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