Confession: I am a Former Liberal Democrat

C'mon, who's shocked? Oh wow.... really? Well, this may be a sort of "the gist of it" post because I have work so it has to be quick. I'll promise to explain as well as I can with my limited time.

Yes, I am a former liberal Democrat. The first presidential election I voted in was in 2004 -- the race between George Bush and John Kerry. This was almost two years prior to my reversion. I was young. I was incredibly ignorant and naive. I wasted my vote on John Kerry. I was apathetic to politics and my parents were registered Democrats so I went along with what they and my friends said. I didn't bother looking into the issues. All I knew was that Democrats supposedly helped the poor and the "little people" while Republicans were the opposite. Again, I was young and ignorant. Plus, Kerry was "Catholic" and, well, I was "Catholic" too so why not? Oh, how wrong I was.

I supported a lot of things that liberals support. I was poorly catechized and did not know my faith beyond reciting an Our Father and a Hail Mary. How on earth I was allowed to do my confirmation without proper study at 13 is beyond me. I look back and cringe at the things I said and did but, as I said, I was young and ignorant (and, yes, I will keep repeating this.) It's not a good excuse but it's the truth.

I wasn't living the best life then either. I've never drunk alcohol, done drugs, smoked, or done anything with anyone that I would be ashamed to tell my future husband. In that way, I have always been a "good girl." I did, however, do a lot of stupid things (i.e. lie over the stupidest things; part of why I detest lying so much now) and I was easily swayed. Even then, when my friends were all on the "ugh, religious/conservatives need to lay off" train, I wasn't 100% convinced.

Looking back, the first sign that I would soon leave that world came when my then best friend told me she was having an abortion. She was not the first friend to have one (another friend had had one at the age of 14). I was shocked. She already had a baby (a beautiful baby boy) so I couldn't understand why she would want to kill her own innocent child. Yes, even during those "lost" years, I knew that she was carrying a human being, not a "clump of cells" as some liberals repulsively call a baby. She told me that she simply couldn't have the child as she could barely handle her firstborn. I was against it but I "supported" her... and by "supported" I meant I would be there for her during the aftermath. I was against it and wished she would change her mind but I didn't think there was anything I could do about it. After that, I felt so disgusted that I pulled away. That, along with other factors, caused me to slowly leave those "friends" behind. To this day, I am so sad and so repulsed with myself for having said that I "supported" her when I really didn't... and more so for not saying anything. And, for the record, this and other things have long been confessed.

I was "against the war" (the way liberals presented it) though my high school sweetheart was (and still is) in the U.S. Army and my childhood sweetheart is in the U.S. Navy. I was grateful to them for their service but I as a "liberal Democrat" couldn't support it. Again, say it with me this time, I was young and ignorant. Oh, and don't get me started on the whole issue of gay marriage. You can probably guess what my thoughts were on it (again, received my information from the hateful liberal spew I heard on a daily basis), before I knew the true sanctity of marriage. This last comment will lose me some of my last liberal friends but I can't hide my beliefs. It wouldn't be fair to myself or to God.

When I returned to the Church, I saw that a lot of errors of my youth. (btw, my "lost years" were between the ages of 14 and 21.) The Roman Catholic Church did nothing to me... except show me the truth and love. I spent a long time hating myself for what I had once supported, though I had been told on a regular basis (by priests) not to be so hard on myself. While I had sinned, I had done it out of ignorance. As a poorly catechized young woman who was never taught that the things I supported were wrong, I didn't know better. Now I do.

While I haven't been too vocal about my support for a specific presidential candidate or anything of the like, I can say, with honesty, that this is the first time in three elections that I really looked at the candidates and the issues. The last one, I voted for McCain-Palin because of Obama's pro-choice record (which has since gotten worse). This time around, I will be voting Romney-Ryan. While I don't agree with everything on Romney's agenda, I believe that the unborn and religious freedom would be better protected with him as president than under Obama-Biden. While I'm not a registered Republican nor have I been a registered Democrat for a while now, I am voting as a Catholic. I am voting for life and for changes that will help this nation pick ourselves up from the economic and moral mess we're in. Needless to say, this is the second time I will NOT be voting for Obama. Also, every time I read this, I am reminded of how I should be voting this election:

"Put no trust in princes,
in mere mortals powerless to save." (Psalm 146:3)

First time young voters, please do yourselves, your consciences, and your souls a favor and vote carefully. Don't let the mainstream media tell you anything. Don't be swayed by anyone's sweet talk. Look at the issues and candidates for yourself. Pray that you and others make the right decisions because, as cheesy and cliche as this may be, this future really is in your (and my) hands.

... and this was officially longer than I planned. Oops. lol. Oh well. The little lady is coming over soon for tutoring so I shall go.

I hope we all stand together and make the right choices tomorrow. My prayers are with you. :)

And now, off to tutoring and trying to not feel crummy (cold-like symptoms are threatening once again).

As always, thanks for reading and God bless.

Election Results; NaNoWriMo.

Well, the results were in a few days ago. Barack Obama will be the new president. *sigh* I really wanted McCain to win, and I even shed a few tears during his concession speech. I think Senator McCain was too hard on himself and I've gained a whole new level of respect for him. *sigh* Well, I think now all we can do is pray for Obama's safety (because regardless of his position on things like abortion, death threats are NEVER the answer) and that he changes his mind on his stance on important moral issues. Even Pope Benedict XVI has reached out to Obama in hopes the Obama does the right thing.

Proposition 8 passed in California. That means that marriage will be define as a man and a woman in this state. I was surprised (but a wonderful surprise) because California is known to be a very liberal state. Most of my classmates in English Lit class went on this rant about how it shouldn't have passed. Even my professor said that it shouldn't have. (She's on the liberal side but she's still such a caring and compassion person.) I kept my mouth shut because it was way too early in the morning to get into those debates. Do I want to get into an argument in which I'd be the only one on my side of the argument... while I was still sleepy? Not so much. I did, however, make it known through body language that I was not pleased when they started on McCain and his concession speech and the harsh words they said about it. Respect the man!

Sadly, Proposition 4 did not pass. I was keeping tabs on how the results came out in each county in California and most did not pass Proposition 4. It's sad. This was, I think, they only thing we (the members of my family who are allowed to vote) agreed on. I have no clue about how my bro voted but I think (hope) he made the right decisions. Hopefully they'll bring back this Proposition in future elections.

Besides the craziness of the elections, I am taking part in the craziness of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo -- NaNo for short). If you're participating in it, please feel free to add me. :D So far I have 3456 (yes, seriously) words written. We have a minimum of 50,000 words pledged by the end of the month, though, so I have to really get to it! I have the long Veteran's Day weekend and don't have another class until Wednesday so I am going to take advantage of it.

You know what? That's exactly what I'm going to do right now. I need a distraction for schoolwork and I feel creative so why not? :D Maybe in the next post I'll update y'all where my friends (and fiance of one of my friends) are on our search for the perfect home in Ireland. We've decided to move out there because we're not happy with the way things are going in this country. Long story. lol. :D

Alright, well, I must get to writing. As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Election Novena

I strongly urge everyone to start the election novena and rosary today and conclude it on election night in hopes that the right candidate is elected and that the right propositions pass.

You can also find the novena to Our Lady of Victory here at Fratres.

I will hopefully have a full blog tomorrow. Busy night tonight. :D So, 'til next time, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

Changes on Blog; Register to Vote!

Semi-quick blog tonight because I have an appointment at the optometrist. My eyes are getting worse. I can't even see properly with either glasses or contacts anymore. I made it through an hour and about 10 minutes (leaving a bit early) of my English Lit class because my head and eyes were seriously aching. On the bright side, my group's pretty much ready for the presentation in that classes; we just have to rehearse. Is it bad that I'm looking forward to dressing up one of the guys in the group as a girl? Hey, it's Shakespeare and it's historically accurate (not to mention hilarious). Teehee. lol.

I changed the blog template as well as removed some widgets. I also added some new links and things. After 10 months of the same thing, I needed to change it a bit. I'll hopefully personalize (change) the template even more when I have time to work on it. I think the simplicity of this new one. Whoo! :D

I do not normally discuss politics because I try to avoid conflict and arguments. I will say that I am about to change my political party. I registered (on the day of my 18th birth date, no less) as a Democrat because both of my parents are Democrats. Of course, since coming back to the Church and really learning about the Dems and the Republicans, I decided I needed to change my affiliation. Man, a lot of change going on today, eh? lol. Anyway, I've decided to register as not having a political party. Yes, you can do that. Well, at least in California you can. I don't agree with much of the liberal points of the view in the Democratic party, but I also dislike some Republican points of view (especially when it comes to discrimination against illegal immigrants -- don't get me started on that topic!). Remaining neutral is best. When it comes to nominating the NEXT candidate for president in another 4 years, I might re-register if I feel strongly about a candidate.

One more thing... I stumbled on this video of Eduardo Verastegui urging voters to make the right decision this coming presidential election. It's in Spanish but it has subtitles for those of you who don't speak or understand Spanish. (Thank goodness my parents raised me bilingual!)


Makes you think, doesn't it? I'm going to get A LOT of grief from some of my friends for what I just posted but I needed to. I don't even want to think what they'd say if they knew how I was voting on the California Prop 8. If you know about the proposition, it doesn't take much to guess how I'm voting. I have some friends who aren't Catholic, or even Christian, so we don't see eye to eye on issues like these. In fact, I've lost two close friends because I'm against things (like birth control and abortion) that they are in favor of. Yes, seriously.

And... funny thing, I received this in the mail while writing the blog. (Love the coincidence.) :D

From Journey of a Catholic Nerd Writer

Alright, well I must go. Keep your fingers crossed that my eyesight won't stay this crummy... or get worse! Nope, I'm gonna be optimistic. :D As always, thanks for reading and God Bless.
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