The Morals Question 

I talked a little earlier about how news pundits are paying too much attention to exit polls given how they've been discredited. But just for the sake of argument (cause I love doing that), let's look at one of the most common things to have come out of those exit polls... Moral Values. I'll give you all a moment to catch your breath after your long gasp.

The way the media has been spinning it, "Red America" came together and voted for Bush because they were afraid of all those gays getting married, and because Bush is against abortion. For the record, I'm against abortion, but for gay marriage... how's that for a combo? Apparently everyone in those "Red States" also want creationism taught in school, and want to tear down the church/state wall. I guess we just want to convert all of you heathens, so you better move to Canada or France.

I can sort of see where some of this is coming from, and I'd be stupid if I claimed that some people didn't feel that way. After all, 10 out of 11 states that had measures banning gay marriage in one fashion or another passed them (Oregon was the only one where the proposal failed). The interesting thing is, the votes didn't fall along Bush/Kerry lines in any of the states. If you look at the actual percentages for the ballot measures and compare them with the presidential vote percentages, you will see that in the states where it passed, it passed by at least 59% all the way to 86% in Mississippi. The average total for passing states was 71.5%. In those same states, Bush got an average of 59%. In Michigan, Kerry won the state, but they passed a gay marriage law anyway (by an extra 9%). In Utah (Mormon country), Bush won by 5 points more than the gay marriage law passed by. I have to admit, that one got me.

The point here is that pollsters asked a very vague question, and are now trying to draw very specific conclusions from it. The asked about "morals" or "values" and then said which candidate was better in those terms. The conclusion they're drawing is that they meant Christian morals and values. Not only that, but they're implying that if you're Christian, you're against gay marriage and abortion. For the record, I consider myself Christian, but haven't been to church in a while. But can we draw that conclusion? The problem is that "morals" mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I'll just rattle off some possibilities. And mind you, I'm trying to attribute one characteristic to one candidate or another.

• Honesty
  
• Keeping your word (different than honesty... think your word is your bond)
  
• Caring for others
  
• Doing what's right
  
• Living up to one's own standards

They're all very vague ideas, which is why I find it interesting that people try to draw specific conclusions from the question. Not only that, but those ideas have nothing to do with Christianity in particular, gay marriage, or abortion. The thing is, everyone has morals. Now then, what we think to be moral or immoral is different among all of us. I think we all want our leaders to be moral people as well. More then that, I think we want our leaders to tell us what their values are, and then hold yourself accountable to those values. That doesn't mean you have to be religious. Atheists can be, and are, just as moral as religious people. It's not about religion. I think that may have been Kerry's downfall in the "Red States". It's not that he doesn't have values or morals, it's that he didn't really share his values with the voters. That's what was important to a lot of people.

Editors Note: I wrote this yesterday but didn't post it until I had a chance to go over it. In the meantime, A Sad American has written an Open Letter to the Democratic Party explaining how they could have had her vote and didn't... seeing as how she's a Democrat and all. It's well written and covers a lot of the same topics I covered here which is why I'm linking. Small note - she does that white text on a black background thing which kills my eyes. Reader beware.

Update: I was talking to my Brother-in-Law today about some political stuff... and mentioned the statistical anomoly in Utah I mention above. He brought up something I hadn't thought about. Of course the Mormons would be simpathetic to gay marriage. Of any religious group in the U.S.... they've been the most persecuted about marriage. Duh! Why did I not think about that? We then thought up several ways that different states could have gotten gay marriage laws passed allowing gay marriage:

• In Southern states add a rider allowing marriage within your own family.
  
• In Utah add a rider allowing paligamy.

:D