I’m not exactly pro-choice and I’m not exactly pro-life. I’m one of the vast “middle grounders” out there in America, who are just kind of sick about the whole thing because it’s an un-resolvable issue. I believe:

1. Women have to carry babies and often they bear the greatest burden raising children, so who am I to force a woman to have a baby she does not want or cannot afford?
2. Adoption is a great thing, and I would certainly encourage anyone I knew who was pregnant but did not want the baby to consider it. There are a lot of good people who want children and can’t have them.
3. I think abortion is killing. But there’s all kinds of *justified* killing in our world: war, self-defense, accidents.

Just because it’s taking a life and *I* think it’s morally wrong doesn’t mean that I should hold everyone else to my moral standard. I think war is wrong. I think capital punishment is wrong. Obviously, I’m not doing to well on the fight to end those either.

I bring this all up because I often hear self-proclaimed “pro-life activists” say that they are voting for Bush, based on that one position alone. But tonight Rain Man posed a very interesting essay by a Christian ethicist, entitled Pro-life? Look at the Fruits which quotes some interesting statistics that show that under the Bush administration, in spite of “faith based initiatives” abortions have actually increased. Why? The economy. It’s certainly worth considering. If you really want to make abortion your issue, as the article claims, it is not just a moral issue separate from the candidates other policies.

Recently, an American ex-pat I know suggested that the majority of Americans were “close-minded, conservative, and prudish,” and expressed regret at the possibility of returning.

This got me thinking a bit about how I feel about America. I’ve always been interested in politics, but over the past few years I’ve become progressively more involved, and more interested in the American political process. I have to say, that participating in it more actively has actually had the opposite effect to what I might have suspected — I’ve actually become less jaded.

I think that only someone who is not in America would ever make sweeping statements about the “majority” of Americans. This country seems to be very polarized these days, on a host of issues. I also am not so sure that this is a bad thing, necessarily. Certainly, being so bitterly divided that we cannot engage in honest discourse is a bad thing. However, engaging in dialog is a good thing, and so long as we are free to engage in that dialog, I think there is hope. It is when we stop allowing the expression of ideas – even those we despise — that we run the risk of truly becoming close-minded.

As Churchill said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, excepting all the others.” Democracy, and especially American democracy, is rife with problems. All governments of men are flawed. What is wonderful about democracy is that it gives us all a voice to stand up and to point out those flaws so we can work on correcting them. In fact, I think it’s our duty in a democracy. As Benjamin Franklin noted, our founding fathers gave us, “[a] republic, so long as you can keep it.”

So are we close-minded? You tell me. The people I know aren’t. Even most of the conservatives I know are not. Sure, I have met a few neo-cons who tow the party line. I’ve also met a few socialists who tow the party line. But more, I’ve met honest people, who care about their lives and their governments. These people have real, honest differences about what they feel is best for our country. Having honest differences of opinion is not being close-minded. The key is to keep our minds open to discourse, willing to look at – and consider – evidence from the opposing view which may change our own opinions. The common fallacy on the left (disclaimer: I’m a self-declared liberal) is that being close-minded is somehow limited to those on the right. In reality, I’ve met a great deal of close minded people who couldn’t even consider the conservative view-point. In fact, true conservatives — not necessarily the neo-con style of the current administration — have a great deal in common with liberals. The ACLU fights vigorously to stop governmental abuses of the Constitution through vehicles such as the PATRIOT Act. And so does Bob Barr. Conservative isn’t dirty word anymore than liberal is.

I’m also skeptical of the label of “prudish,” mostly because it seems to just be salacious, without really raising any actual point. I can easily generate examples of “prudish” America: we allow naked females in our movies, but full frontal nudity of a man is likely to draw a stiff rebuke from the MPAA Ratings Board (pun intended). So what? We also host the largest adult entertainment industry in the world. Or is it that our nation was shocked and titillated (I’m on a roll!) when Janet Jackson shows us a bare breast? I think it’s just another example of just how diverse America is. Yes, there were a number of Americans who felt that was a horrible incident. But again, a number of Americans just plain didn’t care.

It’s easy to some sweeping generalizations about the population and then infer that America is X or Americans are Y. The reality is that America is complex. There are a diversity of lifestyles and a diversity of opinions. We don’t often agree on the issues, but that is one of the greatest aspects of America; we don’t have to agree with everyone. And we are all free to participate in the system, which is, I guess, the entire point of my rant. Instead of grousing about America and Americans, if you are one, participate. Work for change. Right the wrongs. Correct the injustices. Or work to preserve a traditional way of life. Whatever issues matter most to you, pursue them, support them and tell others about them. That’s what it really means to be an American: the idealism that ideas are good things, and that no matter what we do, we are free to think and consider whatever ideas we want. For now. So do what you can to encourage and participate in discourse.