I also have many political friends and a good majority of them do not share my conservative beliefs. So being overly meek, I didn't want to engage in discussion. I didn't want arguments and I didn't want to talk about things in which I was not well versed.
I grew up fairly poor so my parents were democrats. (I realize there is a problem with this statement, bare with me till I make my point) I never understood why it seemed like Catholics had to be Republicans because they were pro-life. My thought was: "No one leader is going to be able to change abortion laws so why use my vote for that one issue?"
As I've grown, as a person and in knowledge, I find that I can see both sides on the two main parties and again, I feel I cannot choose to be associated with one or the other. I identify with both on different issues.
Back to my poor statement, I've received government support, and so have my parents, in the form of food stamps, the free food boxes (commodities?), unemployment, and most recently, I live off of SSI. My illness can be debilitating, making it impossible to do mundane tasks. At times, sitting is even not an option. I've had a job since my freshman year of college and I have tried to work since becoming ill. So it hurts when I hear my conservative friends complain about such forms of government assistance because without it, I would have nothing. When the SSI enters my account, I immediately pay my rent and my student loan payment come out soon after. Then, I am again without money. I do try to work, I teach voice lessons and make $200-500 a month. With that I pay the rest of my bills, charities, and buy food. I know one day God will allow me to work full time without having to worry about my illness, but for now, this is my major source of income. This makes it hard for me to support candidates who have not gone through these kind of troubles.
I am not political, but I did notice the name Marco Rubio several months back so I looked him up briefly and just stored the info in my head. Last night while having a particularly bad attack from my Fibromyalgia and couldn't sleep, I watched a video of him from CNN. Now if you are Catholic, I know you have seen it. EVERYONE is talking about it.
I can not convey my feelings more eloquently than this, he moved me.
Never before has a political speaker made me feel. Clearly, he is pro-life. Clearly he is Catholic. These are the points that caught my attention, however I decided to learn a bit more about it. (a tiny bit) He says his father was a bartender and his mother was a maid. My father was a blue collar worker and while my mother's job looked good on paper, all of the money went to my Catholic education. I had no college savings and had to take out personal loans to attend school. Without them, I would not have started college. He claims to have accrued 100,000 in student loans and that he was still paying them when he entered office. I can relate to that. I also can understand that much of this could have been embellished.
I mentioned earlier how I could not understand how Catholics could just vote for the pro-life candidate. It baffles me because we are also called to attend to our brothers and sisters in need. Social justice IS focused on life. And somehow, it seems that social justice is laking in many pro-life republican candidates. But my support of life has grown and there is a fire in me to do all I can in my power to end abortion. Because God doesn't want it and through our prayers of faith, He will make it end. So maybe, just maybe, I should support this young Hispanic Catholic, whom I can relate to, who stays fast in his pro-life stance.
I don't claim to know all of Rubio's stances. I don't claim to know what I'm talking about at all. All I am saying is that he moved me, and that has never happened before.
Cool. I'll look him up.
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