Faith Voting

Two letters in this morning's Kansas City Star contained polar opposite views on voting your faith.

One letter stated, "As a woman, I am very disappointed with the women who voted President Barack Obama back in. To me, this is demeaning to women. To the Hispanics who are Catholic, does your faith not matter?"

The other letter stated, "I am a Christian mother,wife, daughter, nurse, and friend. I won't be bullied [by a Billy Graham full-page advertisement urging biblical values to guide voting decisions] to vote with the right wing by conservative Christians. We live in America. Can't we all respect free will and our privilege to vote as we choose?

The first letter writer is a "faith voter". The second letter writer is not. My guess is that the first writer is an Evangelical, and the second writer is not. The first has probably been influenced by a preacher, the second not. The first is probably "pro-life, the second "pro-choice". The first is probably a right-wing Republican,  the second not. There are probably other differences and similarities between the two, but what is the critical feature of their existence that moves them to polar opposite views? Answer this question and you have the knowledge to unlock the political grid-lock that besets America.