I am absolutely fascinated and surprised at just how much I have learned about my friends and acquaintances via their Facebook (FB) posts. Like many people, my FB friends consist of family, current good friends, friends I don’t see often, and friends from high school and college. I was a teenager in the late seventies and grew up in a pretty progressive area. Partying was prevalent – smoking pot, drinking, and many other drugs were involved. From what I can tell the majority of us grew up just fine and are productive members of society, some having done some pretty cool things. We were all what we considered hippies back then; sex, drugs, and rock and roll was our mantra – being the pre-herpes, pre-AIDs, pre-crack, pre-meth days. Well fast forward 30 years, and I am generally shocked at how many of my friends are raging Republicans. Today one of my FB friends, someone I spent a lot of time with growing up as we lived in the same small neighborhood for a while, as well as went through school together, shared a post stating the top 10 reasons people vote Democrat. This post listed things like:

• Democrats believe they are too irresponsible to own a gun and that the police can protect them well enough.  
• Democrats believe in marrying anyone they want, and can now marry their German shepherds.
• Democrats aren’t concerned about millions of babies being aborted, but want to keep all death row inmates alive and comfy.

Though more reasons were listed, I stopped there, probably because many of these same people that are now Republicans either had abortions or had a girlfriend that had one. I know this because that kind of thing was kept from what we called “the People” aka our parents, but it usually got around with your good friends and your clique. Come on, everybody gossiped. I don’t know why that thought popped in my head, but it did. Maybe because I can’t help but wonder about so many things, though I know people change as they get older, more mature and more experienced.

Though I am an Independent, I have voted for many Democrats. I have voted for many Independents, Libertarian and Green party members, and some Republicans, too. Though I believe in God, and believe marriage is between a man and woman, I also have no problems with my gay friends or family members wanting to be married, civil union, whatever you call it. There’s the problem – half the time it’s a matter of semantics. But that’s another story for another time. Having said that, I do not believe in people marrying their dogs, nor do my Democratic friends.

I believe in the right to own a gun, and I have had a few. I do not have a problem with background checks, and have been through them not only to buy a gun, but to get a few jobs. They have been registering guns for years, so it’s not like this is exactly new. I would not be honest though if I did not tell you that I do have issues with the government having so much information about us, and worry that this could become problematic someday. Many of my friends who are Democrats are gun owners and believe in this right. I also have a few Republican friends that are totally anti-gun.

Getting back to the abortion issue, typically no one is pro-abortion. They are pro-choice. Meaning they do not think middle-aged men in suits should make healthcare and life-changing decisions for women, particularly women they do not know. The thought of any woman feeling so desperate (for  whatever reason) as to end a pregnancy, and then having to do it in unhealthy, unsanitary conditions, possibly destroying any chances they have for future children is unacceptable to some. Quite frankly, that is unacceptable to me. I had so many girlfriends who had abortions in the late 1970s and 1980s, some more than one. I can just imagine how many of them would have had different outcomes if their options had been different. Many of them would have sought out that procedure regardless, and would’ve ended up in some back alley-like hellhole. Many of them might not have the beautiful children and grandchildren they have now. Would that have been a righteous punishment for a mistake made as a young person finding their way in the world? I am not saying abortion is the right solution to an unwanted pregnancy, but what I am saying is that is a decision that the woman facing that dilemma should be able to make by herself with her healthcare professional. Many of my Democrat friends are pro-life opponents. I also have some pro-choice friends who are Republicans.

Last but not least, I do not think anyone I know believes that all death row inmates should be kept alive and comfy, regardless of their political opinion – but they do want to make sure the person on death row is actually guilty.

I just wanted to shed some light on how some of the Democrats and Republicans I know think about these particular subjects. I have much more I would like to address, but this is enough for today.

Just something I was thinking about . . .