For those of you still grappling with the emerging "values" debate, please don't lose track of the fact that values issues exist for Kerry voters, too.
The following letter is in today's Philadelphia Inquirer (registration required).
I think it expresses a thought that needs more attention
letter text below
Those who backed Kerry
have moral reasons, too
I am offended by the shallow analysis of the media and pundits who have diagnosed the Bush victory under the rubric of voting on "moral issues." The implication is, of course, that those who voted for John Kerry did not do so for moral reasons, that we are amoral at best (if not immoral) in our political decision-making.
As a person of faith, I stand within a Christian tradition and community that considers killing civilians in Iraq and sacrificing young Americans in an unjust war a moral issue. I consider the growing numbers of people in poverty immoral. The fact that many people in my city cannot get health care, a good education, a decent job or even enough to eat is a moral crisis of epic proportions.
In other words, my vote was not driven by ideology but by conscience and was, in fact, a moral act. Granted, people of faith differ in how we weigh moral issues. But the media need to recognize that for many in the religious community, addressing war, poverty, and injustice is what we believe God calls us to do. Those who voted for President Bush do not hold an exclusive claim on religious commitment or moral action.
Rev. Katie Day
Lutheran Theological Seminary
Philadelphia