I am stunned .... political discussion at work. I may be going to hell. [View all]

[Tennessee Gal]

Let me qualify this by saying that this is a person who I do not know extremely well, but I do like her and admire what I do know about her. I have always thought she was a sweet person with a great heart. We have gotten along wonderfully and had fun together. This discussion was not confrontational. But I do hope I was able to open her eyes on a few topics. The ending was the stunner!

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A customer/acquaintance and I got into a political discussion this afternoon. It started innocently enough about the slowness of business. She made a remark that things were going to get worse after November. Of course I knew what she meant. I knew she was implying that if Obama won things would get worse. So, I began to ask her questions.

I asked why she thought things would get worse. She was sure that Obama was going to win, and if so, we are going to be taxed to death. She said that many new taxes are hidden in Obamacare, including a 1% tax on checks that are direct deposited from employers. (Did not bother to refute her on that because I did not have facts ready.) I told her that her fears were not legitimate about Obama taxing the middle and lower classes because Romney is the candidate that has a tax plan that would raise our taxes while reducing taxes for the wealthy.

She talked about how bad the economy is and blamed it on Obama. I asked if she knew how many jobs the country was losing per month at the end of the Bush administration. Of course she did not. I got on line and showed her that 800,000 jobs per month were being lost when Bush left office. I asked if she knew if there has been growth in private sector jobs since Obama took office or is the country still losing jobs. She did not. I showed her the chart of the growth in private sector jobs under Obama. She said it must be government jobs because Obama has expanded the government. I said no, that Obama has not expanded the government and that the chart clearly said private sector. I asked if she had ever heard of the American Jobs Act. She said no. I explained the American Jobs Act and told her it has been blocked by Republicans in Congress. I told her about Republicans blocking the bill to create jobs for Veterans just last week.

She then shifted the subject to oil drilling. She said that this country needs to have more areas opened to oil drilling. I said that under Obama the rate of oil production has increased. She was aghast. I said I could show her, but she didn't want me to. She asked why he didn't approve the Keystone Pipeline. I told her that he is in favor of it, but wanted to wait for more environmental studies and that the oil was to be exported from it anyway.

I told her she watches too much Fox News. She said she doesn't watch it . (I thought bullshit!) I told her that she is getting some bad information somewhere.

I asked if she thought Obama was born in America. She said probably. I asked if she thought Obama was a Muslim. She said probably not.

She then said that she could not vote for a Democrat because of abortion and gay marriage. She said that Democrats are pro-abortion. I said no one is pro-abortion and that most Democrats are pro-choice, meaning that the government should stay out of the decision to have an abortion. I said that I am pro-choice, but I am also pro-life because I personally am against abortion, but think that Democratic policies are much more compassionate when it comes to taking care of children. I left the gay marriage comment alone.

The stunner came when she said that she did not like Romney, but would be voting for him because she wanted to be able to face God in heaven and say that she had voted in the way He wanted her to vote - against abortion - for Republicans.

I said that I am a Christian and would vote for Democrats precisely for the same reason. I can rest easy believing that I can face God and say I voted with a clear conscience for the Party that shows compassion for the needy and infirm the way Jesus did.

I think she was stunned to have someone of faith like me take just the opposite position she does on political matters with facts and because of compassion and conscience.

I ended it by telling her that I am a Christian and I am a Liberal because I am a Christian and we would just have to leave it at that.

I think we parted ways still friends.