To the editor:

In past years, I have voted like most evangelicals. If a candidate testified of a “born again” experience and claimed to be “pro-life,” my church circles encouraged me to vote for him or her. This meant, sad to say, that I helped Bush get elected twice. Also, I supported Bush loyalists like Jim Ryun and Sam Brownback because they were “godly” men who took a stand against abortion.

As I began to check the voting record of these and other “pro-life” politicians, I became increasingly disturbed that they didn’t exactly appear to be “pro-life” on issues other than abortion. For example, these legislators want laws to protect our youngest generation – the yet to be born – but oppose sensible gun laws that could save many lives of America’s children and young adults. They are marionettes of the gun lobby who have become hardened to gun violence.

Worse yet is that these so-called “pro-life” backers of Bush have supported an Iraq occupation with its horrific and lethal consequences. Our military efforts to forge a “made in the U.S.A.” democracy out of several irreconcilable people groups are costing thousands of lives. This “enforced democracy” is our latest oxymoron.

Of course, Ryun and Brownback are doing a lot of backpedaling and are distancing themselves from the president these days. It reminds me of those furry critters that jump ship when the vessel begins to take on considerable water.

Neil Brown,

Lawrence