I’m voting right now…this post updated as it happens…

Let’s see…State Auditor…that job really calls for a college graduate, right?

Most interesting race so far: Commissioner of Public Lands. Better questions and answers than in the Lieutenant Governor’s race.

I find myself being more sympathetic for Republicans, but I agree with democrats more on most issues (though not abortion).

OK, I’ve voted for everything except President…we’re about to watch the last two debates, and then we’ll decide.

Every time I see a hot new technology, like WiFi or iPods, I think “Wow, it would be cool to use that for church.” There are tons of ways emerging technologies could enhance our church experience and functioning.

One idea that I’ve researched a bit is the use of cell phone text messages to arrange spontaneous flash-mob church gatherings for various purposes. It doesn’t look like the technology can be had for free (unless you’re a Linux rocket scientist), so that idea will have to wait a while.

Another idea is the use of iPods or other portable music players to make up for the good worship music you miss when in a small emerging church that doesn’t have a band or big uplifting worship services (perhaps for good reason, but I still find myself missing the music).

But with all the technology that promises to enhance our church experience and the way we communicate, there is another side: It’s really not that complicated to be/do church. All you have to do is be a real person, be humble in light of that fact, treat others with respect and love, and pursue God together. Church starts there, not with zippy technology. Maybe the tech helps, but then again, maybe it just gets in the way.

What do you think? What church tech (big- or small-church) would you like to see?

Just so you know, you can’t hard-boil an egg in the microwave. It will explode. Yes, it will. I was unsure 30 seconds ago, but I am quite certain now.

Abortion in Context, from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, has been very illuminating, and has challenged many of my preconceptions about abortion.

Yet, while it may seem paradoxical, a country’s abortion rate is not closely correlated with whether abortion is legal there. For example, abortion levels are quite high in Latin American countries, where abortion is highly restricted. (In fact, 20 million of the 46 million abortions performed annually worldwide occur in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws.) At the same time, abortion rates are quite low throughout Western Europe, where the procedure is legal and widely available. Also, Eastern and Western Europe have the world’s highest and lowest abortion rates, respectively, yet abortion is generally legal throughout the Continent.

If legality is not the determining factor, what drives the rates at which abortions occur in a given country? Clearly, a key factor is the rate at which women experience unintended pregnancies?itself a function of the interplay between a couple’s family-size (and timing) goals and their contraceptive use.

I have previously assumed that, if abortion were illegal, it would be rare. Apparently this is not the case, and I stand corrected. My apologies for any offense that my misconceptions led me to cause. “Safe, legal, and rare” now sounds less like a rabid pro-choice mantra and more like a realistic best-case scenario (though I suppose “extremely rare” would be better). There is no magic bullet to cure the weakness of the human heart (I am speaking of men and women, not by any means just the women who have abortions), nor the difficulties and unfortunate circumstances of life.

This influences my previous thoughts about the importance of the next President’s ability to appoint Supreme Court justices. Even if Roe V Wade is overturned, it may do nothing to reduce the total number of abortions, and will certainly increase the number of women harmed by illegal abortions. AGI has this to say:

[T]he key variable that accounts for the high U.S. abortion rate is not a permissive law but a high unintended pregnancy rate.

No contraceptive method, though, works for everyone.

However, all contraceptive methods have drawbacks. Some have inherently high failure rates, while others are difficult for women (or their partners) to use on a consistent basis (details).

For many couples, effective contraceptive use is complicated by cultural, religious and social factors that affect women’s ability to participate fully in reproductive decision-making (details).
…
Unfortunately, contraceptive availability will never make unplanned pregnancies, and the abortions that inevitably follow them, disappear completely. Contraceptives are not perfect, nor are the people who use them. Ultimately, improved access to effective methods of contraception is a necessary part of any serious effort to reduce unintended pregnancy and abortion?at home or abroad.

It is frustrating to me that legislation cannot solve the problem of abortion. I wish it could; magic bullets are pretty nice, but so rare in this complicated world of ours.
So what should we do about abortion?

• Make contraception, in a variety of forms, universally available.
• Create conditions that lead to fewer unwanted pregnancies in the first place.
• Encourage legislation that will create conditions (such as parental consent requirements) that will make abortion a less-likely choice for mothers in desperate situations.
• Pray.
• Work on matters of the heart.
• Provide a loving home for every unwanted child, regardless of race or disability.

What would you add?

I know I’m important now. On my answering machine today were messages from (in order):
1. Charles Hasse (President of the Washington Education Association)
2. Bill Clinton
3. James Dobson
4. Senator Patty Murray

Bill has called before, as has his close personal friend Howard Dean. All of them are calling to remind me to vote democrat, and I’ve had a lot of other less-famous people call and remind me to send in my absentee ballot (most of whom are from the Washington State Democrats, though they don’t tell you who to vote for).

I’ve never felt so loved!

That’s why I’m so thankful for the Washington Education Association, the only union I’ve ever been forced to join if I want to work in this state loved. They do all the thinking for me! For example, thinking about which candidate and referendum I want to vote for in every major race is such a drag. In response, the WEA published this handy magazine this month:

Now I don’t have to think about it! I’ll just bubble in my ballot exactly the way they say. It’s even in pictoral form, so I could be completely ignorant of the candidates and the issues, and still be certain that I’m casting the right vote. It’s a good thing you didn’t ask me or other normal people what we think, because you highly paid insiders and lobbyists, with your top-secret job descriptions, salaries, and budgets, are much better at making important decisions than we educators are.

Thank you, WEA! I knew I could count on you to use my $1200 I’ve paid you in dues for a good cause! And thank you for keeping my dues separate from your Political Action Committee funds, as you promised. I also appreciate it that your special voting issue didn’t waste any valuable paper or ink in explaining why we should vote the way you recommended. That would be pointless, since we teachers know to trust you instead of bothering to think for ourselves. We’re too busy teaching our students critical-thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to actually practice them!

Remember, it’s all about the kids! And people who care about kids vote democrat, straight down the ticket. Go WEA!

Yep, Bush. I haven’t mailed my ballot yet, but I’m 99% sure Bush will have my bubble. Here’s why.

If Kerry gets elected, he has the chance to fix a lot of the things Bush has screwed up. If Bush gets re-elected, whoever replaces him in 2008 will have the chance to fix a lot of the things he has screwed up. Either way, we only have 4 more years of Bush’s bad policies.

And Bush has done a lot of good. It’s nowhere near what Kerry is promising, but so far, Kerry’s words are just that - promises. If this were all there is to it, Kerry would probably have my vote, since I like the sound of him.

But the appointing of Supreme Court justices, and the potential to overturn Roe V. Wade, is too huge to pass up. This is an issue ten times bigger than slavery, and it has sat without serious challenge for over thirty years. If it is overturned, people will start to see unborn children as the human beings they are, rather than obscuring that fact behind the rhetoric of personal prerogative and control over one’s own body. And we will look back on the decades of legal abortion in America as a sad, incomprehensible age - much as we look back on the age of slavery now.

But there is also the matter of not being, as Sojourers puts it, “single-issue voters.” In principle, I agree. After this election, I will probably not be a single-issue voter. But I am taking this opportunity to be a, well, opportunistic voter. I think the right to life is more important than jobs, the environment, foreign policy, health insurance, the economy, and all that other stuff I listed combined.

Update (2004-10-29 9:50 PM): I change my perspective here after some further reading.