Letter to a Democrat

Dear Mr. Democrat:

We've known each other for a very long time, and although I disagree with you on pretty much every issue, I still believe we could be friends.  Unfortunately you seem to hold a hatred for me that I believe stems from a serious misunderstanding about who I am and what I believe.

There are things I think I understand about you.  Many of your attitudes and opinions are based on what you view as your inherent qualities of tolerance and understanding.  You hold the belief that a compassionate government must redistribute the wealth from those who have it to those who do not.  You've also told me that there should never be any judgement or strings attached to that redistribution.  That the simple fact someone is poor and needy is the only qualification needed to receive their share of my hard-earned income.

Please explain why you believe it's compassionate to take half of everything I earn, stuff most of it into the pockets of hordes of faceless Washington bureaucrats, then toss the spare change to the poor.  Are you unaware of that reality or do you really think that solves the problem of poverty?

We hold nearly polar opposite philosophies about the role of government.  You're a socialist and I'm a capitalist.  You believe that people are poor because they are somehow forced into poverty by the greedy wealthy elite.  I believe that people are poor because of their own life choices and are kept poor by the power-hungry socialist bureaucracy who believe they must be every poor person's surrogate parent.

So what exactly is wrong with my idea that those able to work should earn their own way?  I've never heard a logical explanation from your socialist friends answering that question.

You're an atheist and you hate me mainly because of my Christian faith.  Whatever happened in your life that offended you so throughly toward the Church I deeply regret.  If I could only make you understand one thing, it's that Christian people are flawed and sinful.  It's unfortunate that we all can't be shining examples of Jesus Christ to the world, but I know there are lots of folks out there who call themselves Christians that fail to model the principles of the faith to others.  The fact that redemption is available to us despite the evil we do is the beauty of our faith.

My faith makes it clear that sexual promiscuity outside the institution of marriage is wrong.  You call me homophobic for holding on to that outdated and unenlightened point of view.  You also call me a bigot and hateful.  What you don't seem to understand is that I would counsel you against having sex with multiple partners, whether heterosexual or homosexual.  I'd also suggest that divorcing and remarrying is equally wrong.  So if I'm a hating bigot for saying that homosexuality is wrong, then you'd have to apply the same charges to me for my belief that divorce and remarriage is wrong, promiscuity with multiple hetero partners is wrong, and of course adultery is wrong.

It seems to me that my moral compass in the area of sexuality is what makes you more upset with me than anything else.  Why does that upset you so much?  Do you imagine me standing in the corner with my arms crossed, shaking my head and clicking my toungue, whenever you're in bed with someone not your wife?  Getting the Supreme Court to declare homosexual "marriage" a consititutional right does not override God's law and make it morally acceptable.

If I cite the undisputable facts that have demonstrated for most of human history that the nuclear family is the best environment for raising children, why does that upset you?  Children who are raised in a home with a mom and a dad who are gainfully employed and go to church on Sundays are the most successful people over their lifetimes.  Why does that truth threaten you?

As a Christian, I'm deeply concerned for you.  I grieve that you go through life with such anger and hatred for me, even though I've given you no cause to do so.  I grieve that if you do not have a life-altering experience someday soon, your soul will suffer the tortures of Hell.  I'm sorry you will never know true love or happiness, and I blame my own generation who allowed the Socialists and Communists to invade and destroy our educational institutions.

Perhaps one day you will write me a letter in response. I long to understand you better, even though I promise you will never succeed in dissuading me from my faith or my political philosophy. 

I will continue to pray for you.

Sincerely,

Dan