Alright, yesterday I was in a rather pissed off mood about right wing governance in general, and also with injustice which is less related to political governance. Then I drove by my local planned parenthood and I saw a group of people who mostly looked like skinheads holding up pictures of aborted babies to greet the people entering the hospital.
I was sick of puritannical crap. Moreover, I was sick of the selective outrage which condemns abortion as sinful yet gives a free pass to Republicans on the Iraq war. Why are these the people dominating our nation's discourse? There was another side to the story, and though I was only one person, I wanted to try to represent it. So I hightailed it to the college library, printed out a picture of Bush and some mutilated-dead Iraqi babies, and created my own sign which said "Right-Wing Presidents Kill Iraqi Babies."
The reaction I got was somewhat unexpected. Because I was standing close to the pro-lifers, many people driving by did not pay close attention to my sign and simply assumed I was with that group, and many young women gave me the finger, which I thought was kind of funny. Additionally many conservative-looking couples gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up.
I found a better location on the other side of the street where more people were able to pay attention to my sign and the response was quite warm.
Another strange thing was I talked to a gentleman who was apparently the organizer of the anti-abortion demonstration. He came up to me, having seen my sign, and said "I agree with you. There is no justification for us killing all of those Iraqi Children. Our next leader needs to get us out of Iraq." I then asked him if he had voted for Bush, and he said "I am afraid to say I did, but if I could do it again I would have voted for Kerry." He added that he supported my right to free speech, and I reciprocated the feeling (though I feel that certain restrictions on intimidatory expression in the area of abortion clinics is justified).
As I left I saw a group of organizers getting in a car, one of whom was dressed as a Catholic Priest. I held my sign so all in the car could read it, and the Catholic Priest gave me a nod. I wasn't sure if he was simply acknowledging that he respected my position or agreeing with me.
In any event, I got the feeling that religious conservatives may not be as much of a block vote as thought at one time.