Piqued

As most of my friends and close family know, I’m a pretty active supporter of Ron Paul in the upcoming Republican primaries and then for President. I’ve been meaning to write a post about why for some time now, and I figured this record-setting day was as good a time as any.

As that link and his website explain, Paul has earned nearly $4 million today, more than any candidate has ever raised online in a day, ever. And more than any Republican candidate has raised in a day this election cycle. I’ve given over $200 to his campaign myself, and I’m planning to give more before too long.

There are a lot of reasons I support Ron Paul. First, here are a few reasons I don’t support anyone else:

Democrats:

• All are too liberal and socialist for me. I can’t support any of them.

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John D. Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil Company, spoke at Texas A&M today at the invitation of the Dwight Look College of Engineering. I had the option of going to this or my Engineering Ethics lab, and since I find energy sources interesting both politically and technically, it was an easy decision.

I wasn’t sure what to expect beforehand (and had actually forgotten all about it until I saw it on my Palm Treo’s calendar today). Oil companies definitely have a negative stereotype these days, and I’ve heard from friends who’ve interned at them that their workplace culture isn’t as conservation-friendly as their PR department likes to pretend. Still, I understand they’re a company whose responsibility is return on investment and overall company value. The fact that they are profitable should hardly be cause for shame. It is clearly in their best interest to continue to invest in their current business, primarily oil collection and refinement, while exploring other sources of energy to maintain long-term viability. The”obscene profits” of these companies gives them a unique opportunity to fund such research, which at least Shell appears to take seriously.

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So I just saw this article on MSNBC about that extreme Baptist church in Kansas which protests the funerals of soldiers and AIDS victims, all in the name of God. These people (including their children) can be seen carrying signs that say “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “God is America’s Terrorist” and “God Hates Fags.” These people are disgusting, but particularly to me as a Christian. Their argument is that God hates homosexuality (which the Bible does clearly state is a sinful lifestyle), America is becoming too tolerant of homosexuality (a sign of America becoming more sinful), and that God is now attacking America as punishment for this degradation through war, disease and natural disasters (an argument that commits the post hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy).

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