Campaigns should avoid ‘morality’

Armin J. Zeller Albemarle County
Published: September 6, 2008

While there appears to be general agreement that the country is heading in the wrong direction, the political primary results have shown that the campaigns are less influenced by main issues than by a wide range of unqualified public opinion based on traditional prejudice and emotional considerations.

Important issues should primarily include solutions to Iraq and Afghanistan, resulting in improvements on economical welfare, financial policies, foreign relations. Additional main issues should be health care support, homeland security and environmental protection. Just partial results would restore confidence and credibility.

Instead, since candidates cannot guarantee any short-term progress on major issues, just to gain votes they concentrate on personal attacks and bickering on insignificant issues. Hostile campaigning and slandering each other with half-truths represent no qualification for the job, even when nourished by obsessively biased political columnists and commentators.

Regrettably, even some church leaders feel compelled for misleading intervention. When a Catholic archbishop excommunicates liberal politicians because of their potential stand on “pro-choice,” I feel taken back to church practices of the Middle Ages. Some evangelical leaders, trying to re-establish “morality,” make it even worse, since their hypocritical morality has only one goal: to gain political power, striving for a fundamental theocratic society, although Christian, not unlike to some Islamic republics.

Not to be misunderstood, I am all for morality, an issue primarily of ethical education, not a legal issue. I am all against “pro-choice,” since there is a large choice of preventions available and an abortion represents killing of life. I am, however, also strongly opposed to church leaders, after they have failed for decades, to make this a main issue now for an election with much more important issues at stake.

Within the remaining two months there is little chance that certain voters will disentangle themselves from emotions and preconceptions, that the candidates will refrain from hostile campaigning and that certain political columnists will offer some constructive contributions rather than continuous biased attacks. Therefore, we can only pray to God, to show consideration and enlighten sufficient voters to use their God-given intelligence when voting.