Erin & I cooked dinner at Keith & Elaine’s on Saturday night, and we talked about the flurry of activity on her blog following her announcement of her commitment to Barack Obama. It reminded me of a very interesting book that I read about a year ago called Faith of My Fathers by Chris Seay. It’s basically a dialogue of a discussion about various subjects between Chris, a pastor, Chris’s brother Robbie, a worship leader, Chris’s dad, a pastor, Chris’s granddad, a former pastor, and Donald Miller. It opened my eyes to a lot of generational differences and helped me understand them. This snippet comes from the section entitled “What does it really mean to be pro-life?”

(Chris’s dad has just said that he thinks that abortion is the pivotal moral issue of our day, and, though he agrees with Democrats in many areas, “I don’t care what else they are for that may be right- if they are for the murder of defenseless babies in the womb, then I could never support them”)

Donald Miller: We have a Republican president right now, and women can still get abortions. Is he failing? Let’s not assume that if you vote Republican you are saving the lives of unborn children. The truth is- if you vote Republican, you are voting with someone who is pro-life but with limited resources to make considerable changes. Contrast that with the lives lost in Africa and in the third world, by our neglect there, and you have to start counting bodies- unborn bodies versus African bodies. Would you concede that if the body count is higher because of Republican interest in corporate America over third world politics, then our moral obligation is to vote for the lesser of two evils?

… And I saw the Republicans neglect the poor and favor the rich, not just abroad but at home… So for me, it is both: it’s the fact that if I vote for a Republican, certain people will lose their lives, there is no doubt about it; and if I vote for a Democrat, certain other people will lose their lives… Let’s not pretend there’s a “good party” and a “bad party.” That is a lie from Satan. Both are trying to do good thins, and both have ugly sides