My Values and Beliefs

Where do I begin? Well, first and foremost, I am a Christian. I attend a conservative Church of Christ (instrumental type) where I'm a Sunday School teacher. I believe that the Bible is true, that God is real, that Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead, and that one day I'll go to Heaven. I believe the plan of salvation includes full-immersion baptism.

I believe my body is the temple of the Lord (as scripture says), and that I need to take better care of myself. I abstain from tobacco, alcohol, and recreational drugs, but I am also overweight and out of shape. I believe it is sinful to be in this state, and that I need to repent and take better care of myself.

I believe that I am responsible for the sins that I committed and the mistakes I made during my psychotic episodes. I feel that using my illness as an excuse to hurt others is unacceptable. I know I hurt my family, and I feel very bad about that. I know I committed sins that seemed right at the time, but for which I am still accountable.

I listen almost exclusively to Christian rock music. My favorite band is Daniel Amos, who I got to see in concert in July 2000. I also like bands like Audio Adrenaline, Skillet, and Reliant K.

I do not believe in harming animals for sport (hunting, fishing, bullfights, etc.). I do, however, think that it's okay to eat animals (the Bible permits it). If I could afford to, I would buy only free-range organically fed meat so I knew the animals had been treated humanely before slaughter.

I am pro-life and pro-contraception. I believe that birth control should be free and available to everyone who wants it. I believe more programs need to exist to help girls who choose to put their babies up for adoption. I believe that women should have the choice of becoming a mother, but that the choice needs to be made before conception, not after. I believe abortion should only be used when the mother's life is in danger.

I believe fertility treatments are wrong. Always. There are too many children in the world who need good homes to justify making designer babies in laboratories. I think people like the McCaugheys are selfish people, not saintly examples of parenthood that Christianity holds them up as. I think the idea of freezing embryos is disgusting and evil. Research using these embryos is wrong, and I will never take a treatment that is a result of stem cell research, even if it means that my life is in danger. I would rather die than compromise my principles and support research on human beings. Using such treatments would make me a hypocrite.

I believe the choice to not have children should be seen as being as valid as the choice to have them. I do not believe that an unplanned pregnancy makes a couple more mature or more responsible than an unchilded couple, even though they are usually considered so by society. It takes more maturity and responsibility to avoid an unwanted pregnancy than it does to bring an unplanned child into the world.

I don't want children. I never have. I wouldn't even play with baby dolls as a child. I believe that a majority of parents today shouldn't be. Rampant child abuse and neglect proves this. I believe that when a couple has children, one parent should stay home and raise the children. What's the point of having kids if you're going to dump them in daycare for 10 hours a day? I believe that people who leave their babies strapped in hot cars are deliberately trying to kill them and should go to jail for being the murderers that they are. How can you "forget" that your child is in the car? I believe that people who kill their children should go to jail, whether it was "intentional" or not. (Current laws are very lax on parents who abuse their children to death unless they were deliberately trying to kill them. And who's going to admit that they were trying to kill their children when they can get off with a slap of the wrist if it was an "accident"?)

I am a Republican, and I support most of the Republican platform. I voted for Bush in 2000 and jumped for joy when the Democrats finally gave up their pathetic attempts to steal the election. Although he's done some things I don't approve of, he's still a heck of a lot better than any democrat who's out there! I really don't follow politics that closely, though.

I do not believe in Affirmative Action. I believe that it was needed for a period of time, and now it is unnecessary. I believe it only hurts women and minorities, who have now proven that they can do work just as well as white men. It is insulting to lower the standards for certain people. I want to get a job based on my own merits, not on my sex.

I am against "family friendly" practices in the work place that benefit only parents. Everyone should be able to benefit from things like flex time and unpaid leave if they are offered. I believe that the more benefits that are added for parents, especially mothers only (lactation rooms, 6 month paid maternity leave, on-site daycare, etc.), the more it hurts women. How? Companies will begin to hire more men (who will cost the company less in fringe benefits) than women (whose special benefits cost the company a fortune). Why hire a woman who is going to take off half a year paid maternity leave (meaning you not only pay for an employee who is not working for you, but you also must pay a temp to fill her position) when you can hire a man who will be there working all year round? While I understand that it is hard to work and parent children, I feel that this special treatment will set back the women's movement 50 years. How? Women no longer want equal treatment, they want special treatment, indicating that they are not as capable as men at performing a job.

I fully support the Marriage Amendment, and have signed several petitions and sent several e-mails to my representatives about supporting it. I find it pathetic that our nation has come to a point where we have to amend the Constitution to say that marriage is between one man and one woman.

I believe that we have all the gun control laws we need. I saw one website refer to them as "victim disarmament laws." I have to agree. What we need are stiffer penalties for those who misuse them to commit crimes. I fully support the belief that "if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."

I believe that our country is going to Hell in a handbasket. If we don't straighten up and repent of our national sins soon, God will punish our nation. We live in a country where we have more laws to protect criminals than we do to protect their victims. Frivolous lawsuits are rampant, many claims based on the stupidity of consumers who deliberately misuse products and then blame the manufacturers for "faulty" products. Our children are becoming more spoiled and less educated. Discipline has become a thing of the past, while child abuse skyrockets. Abortion and assisted suicide have cheapened life. Women are rewarded for having illegitimate children, and penalized for marrying the fathers. Drug addicts and alcoholics get disability checks while little old ladies can barely afford to eat. "Justice" is just a word and no longer a principle in our country.

That about sums up my values and beliefs!