I am not an animal! I am a human being.

I am unashamedly a one-issue voter. To clarify, there are MANY issues that I find of interest and/or importance, but all those issues are not created equal.

That one issue for me is the stance toward the rights on the unborn, either by a party or a candidate. On Oprah today is Lisa Ling talking about how we treat the animals we eat.

I wonder if Oprah would have someone on her show to talk about how human babies are treated. To further explore the different approaches toward animals or humans, I share John Piper's experience with animals that led him to be a one issue voter.

“…When we bought our dog at the Humane Society, I picked up a brochure on the laws of Minnesota concerning animals. Statute 343.2, subdivision 1 says, ‘No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal.’ Subdivision 7 says, ‘No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal.’ The penalty: ‘A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.’

Now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An eight-week-old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity, but under our present laws is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment, which says that ‘no state shall deprive any person of life . . . without due process of law.’ Well, I wondered, if the unborn do not qualify as persons, it seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog, or at least a cat. Could we not at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.2, subdivision 7? Why is it legal to ’maim, mutilate and kill’ a pain-sensitive unborn human being but not an animal?

These reflections have confirmed my conviction never to vote for a person who endorses such an evil—even if he could balance the budget tomorrow and end all taxation.”
Read the rest of the article, One-Issue Politics, One-Issue Marriage, and the Humane Society by John Piper (1995).

How looks 2008?

Princeton professor Dr. Robert George:
“Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress…” (HT Justin Taylor)
Read the rest of the essay, Obama's Abortion Extremism by Robert George (10/14/2008).

I think you can do the math on this one. I must oppose Barack Obama, for this issue alone is enough to disqualify him.