Well I did it. I became a Republican. This red suit feels stiff, but clean and new and freeing. This is a big step for me. Raised a Democrat by Irish-Catholic-Kennedy fanatics, I was once a member of the Green party.

Although I have almost always been pro-life, I have clung to my Democratic roots because I didn’t want to be “boxed in.” I didn’t want to be thought of as rich, (which I am because my husband makes good money) or out of touch with the working class, (I am a childless home maker) or be targeted by feminists or gays or liberals of any sort. I wanted to be thought of as an exception to those very narrow, fiscal conservatives like Ronald Reagan. Though I loved Reagan for his stand for the unborn, I never fully trusted his unmitigated trust in corporate America. (In retrospect, though, his deregulation of the airlines was a good thing. Now, the government is heavily involved in them again because of terrorism and high oil prices. But that’s another story…and I’m still not convinced I am fiscally conservative.)

Still, the time has come for me to take a stand, politically. I can no longer ignore the Democratic party’s ignoring and supressing pro-lifers. I can no longer support a party that is in line with the lgbt agenda. I can no longer be thought of as an Obama supporter because I was a registered Democrat. I have come to the point where I would rather live in a box and be misunderstood on less important issues (like whether I am rich and out of touch) in order to be more clearly understood on the supremely important ones. I am a Republican because the Republicans stand for life. I am a Republican because the Republicans defend my freedom to live my faith. And I am a Republican because I am Catholic. The Republican Party, though (I’m guessing) it was founded by Protestants, is the party most in line with the social teachings of the Catholic Church.
And speaking of the Catholic Church, I switched alliances there, too. Not all Catholic churches preach Catholic teaching. Call me narrow, but as a Catholic, I need to hear Catholic teaching. Yes, call me narrow. Call me rich. Call me out of touch. But you can no longer call me a Democrat. I might be living in a smaller box now, but I can breathe easier.