Well, here we go again. Election season is upon us, and the voices of those who disagree with your particular political views come out screaming and shouting their disapproval at your freedom of speech, which allows one to use social media as a platform for sharing their views. Today, I posted a simple picture, with a simple, factual statement. For the sake of clarity, I share that picture and statement here:

I then added a simple statement: I did a thing – ALL RED

This was me, using my American freedom, and fulfilling my responsibility, to cast my vote for the candidates of my choice. The same thing you have the freedom to do as well, if you are are a legally registered citizen with credentials showing that you are registered to vote.

So, my question is, why am I being blasted by those who disagree with my choice of candidate? Do I not have the right, and do I not deserve the respect, to vote for my choice just as much as you do to vote for yours? Do I have to be ridiculed by childish name-calling simply because you don’t like the persons for whom I voted?

If you would like to engage with me in a civil debate as to why we have voted for the candidates of choice, I would love the opportunity to do so. But I refuse to stoop to the level of ridiculing you for your legal right to cast your vote for whomever you choose. I will not belittle you, I will not call you childish names, I will not cast dispersions on your person, I will not try to shame you in any way. I will simply share with facts as to why I voted the way I did.

Now, having said that, let me hasten to explain my reasoning for casting an all red ballot. It was not so much that I voted for one political party as it was that I voted against the other. You have the right to disagree with the statements I am about to make, and I welcome any and all civil replies. But please, no personality bashing, no profanity, no name-calling.

First, I believe in the sanctity of life. I further believe that life begins at conception, and that every child conceived in the womb is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Every. Single. One. I further believe that to end that child’s life, regardless of the stage of prenatal development, is an act of murder. For those who will scream, “My body, my choice,” in response to my statement, I would simply say to you, I agree wholeheartedly. And the woman who becomes pregnant took her body, and made her choice, when she decided to engage in sexual activity knowing full well that to do so could very well end up in an unwanted pregnancy. She took her body and made a very bad choice. But then, the baby who is now forming in her womb is NOT her body. That baby is his/her own body, and deserves to live just as the woman in whose womb he/she is developing.

Second, the Bible speaks loudly and clearly to the subject of human sexuality. God created male and female. Period. Biologically, anatomically, physically, male or female. There are not other sexes. You can call yourself what you choose, but the fact of the matter is, you ARE one or the other, and nothing else. Homosexuals, bisexuals, transexuals, allosexuals, androsexuals, asexuals, demisexuals, gays, graysexuals, lesbian, monosexuals, multisexuals, omnisexuals, pansexuals, polysexuals, et al. The list seems to grow with increasing regularity as individuals come up with terms which describe what they think themselves to be.

Now I certainly realize that the argument against my stance is that these are not sexes, but sexual orientations. In other words, those who would identify themselves by any of the terms listed above might agree that they are male or female biologically and anatomically, but their personal sexual orientation is different than their anatomy. I would simply say to that that they have chosen to embrace a lifestyle that is contrary to the teachings of Scripture. The Bible forbids for men to engage in sexual relations with other men, and for women to engage in sexual relations with other women. And God takes it so seriously that the Bible teaches that if one persists in these deviant lifestyles God will indeed turn them over to their own desires and choices, even though it is against His original design for male and female in His creative work.

I would hasten to add to this that even deviant sexual behavior between heterosexuals is forbidden in Scripture. Premarital sex, extra-marital affairs, living together outside of marriage, are all forbidden sexual behaviors. So the same indictments are cited against heterosexuals as against homosexuals if they engage in lifestyles that are forbidden in Scripture.

Would you like to have a civil discussion about these issues? Send me a private message and we will find a time and place for such a conversation. I will not demean you, call you names, or bash your personhood. I will simply share with you why I will vote RED instead of BLUE in the upcoming election, and all to follow, as long as this chasm exists between the parties.