Learning to be Liberal in Lubbock

 Jennifer Conlee, co-news editor

Lubbock is a conservative city.

I am not a conservative person.  I did not discover this until my junior year in high school. 

Until then, I was happy living in my oblivious state of not caring.  Then, I turned 18.  Suddenly, the presidential elections came along, and I was persuaded to vote.  This was when I had to start deciding where my loyalties lie.

In the beginning, I was convinced that I was a Republican.  I was against abortion, and thought that gays should keep to themselves.

But, slowly, I started coming out of my mother’s repressed, let’s-do-everything-they-want-us-to-do box that I had been living in.  My government/economics class taught me the differences between the Democrats and Republicans, and during my senior year I was able to do many things that I had not been able to do in the past, such as spending the weekend away from home and with friends.

College took me even further from those ideals that had been pounded into my head all my life.  I started hanging out with people who were not Christian.  I even befriended some homosexuals.  Guess what?  This did not make me an extra sinful person.

My views have now changed, for the most part.  The one thing I still hold to is that abortions are wrong.  If a girl goes out and gets herself pregnant, then she should deal with it in a way that does not kill a tiny baby.  If she doesn’t want her precious daddy knowing that she got herself knocked-up, she should of thought of that before.

However, in cases of rape, incest, or possible death, then abortion should be a possibility.  Most conservatives say it is wrong even in those cases, but that is where I differ.

My gay friends have changed my mind about that lifestyle.  As a Christian, I still believe that God does not want people to be gay.  However, if someone is gay, that person is still a human, and my friends are really cool.

If they want to get married, that is their prerogative.  Honestly, are other countries going to look at America and think it any less than the “Promised Land?”  If they love us, they will continue to love us, and if they hate us, which many seem to anyway, they will still hate us, regardless of who is marrying whom.

I also think that gays should be allowed to adopt children.  I would much prefer for a child to grow up in a home with two loving parents of the same gender than on the streets or in an orphanage.  All babies need love.  Why does it matter who gives it to them?

As far as taxes go, I could really care less about them at this point.  Yes, I know I will have to pay them.  But as far as I can tell, everyone will have to pay them, regardless of which party is in control.  I am just in the group that thinks more taxes should go toward education rather than buying a new car for our local congressman.

I do not see the point, however, in being forced to pay into Social Security.  The so-called “Baby Boomers” are all beginning to draw from Social Security, and by the time that my generation reaches that age, there won’t be anything left for us to draw from.  See my point?

Ironically, I once considered going into law, but politics really bore me.  I believe that it is just a bunch of uptight people in suits trying to outdo each other so that they can get the most toys.

I think the point of living lies in loving someone.  Those who die with the most toys do not win.  They cannot take their toys with them when they die.  However, the people who die with the most love in their lives will be remembered for along time, anf that is what matters.

So, yes, I do consider myself a liberal.  It’s not really a good thing in this part of the world, but soon I will be in another place where I can be as liberal as I want.  This does not mean that I’m going to pierce and tattoo myself in a million places, but atleast I can homosexuals and atheists without worrying about people telling me that it’s sinful to hang around with non-Christian people of the wrong sexual orientation.

My life is richer, better, and more colorful because of “those people,” and I much prefer it to the pure, bland life of being conservative and never having any fun.  I like my friends, and I think that I’ll keep them, thank you very much.