Adopted???

My sister and I have many things in common. We are both outspoken, like to entertain, understand the dynamics of our family better than anyone else, we enjoy long walks, time outdoors, as well as gardening, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. On the other hand, we are also drastically different. Our differences are most evident when looking at our religious, political, and social views.

Last Friday, as I headed to Richmond, I called my sister. We typically talk on a daily basis. She is a McCain supporter so I decided to ask what she thought about McCain's Vice Presidential candidate choice, Sarah Palin. She proceeded to let me know that she was not at all happy about this decision. So, I probed regarding what she was disappointed about. This is when the bomb dropped. My wonderful loving sister then said, "I don't think that women should hold such roles of authority. It is OK for women to be teachers, but not ministers, president, or vice president." At this point, I was absolutely speechless for one of the first times in my life. I think that she thought I had dropped the call because as time passed with her calling my name it took all the strength my vocal cords had to whisper, "I'm here, just speechless."

Her comment launched us into further discussion regarding exactly where she thinks the line should be drawn as far as women holding roles of authority. When our conversation was over I still did not have a clear view on where she saw that line. It is difficult for me to comprehend that it is OK for a woman to educate our future ministers, presidents, and vice presidents, but that she has no business in those roles herself. I am a firm believer in selecting the best person for the job regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. I mean is that not the same as saying that Obama should not be President because he is black? Are these thoughts common amongst conservatives?

My sister states based on her biblical research she does not believe that women should hold such roles. Now I certainly do not consider myself to be an expert on biblical matters, but as the daughter of a Methodist minister I have spent a lot of my life in church and I must have completely missed those lessons. She went on to further explain that she believes that a woman's main role should be to act as a wife and a mother. Now that is all fine and dandy, but not every woman may have those opportunities. For example, whose to say that I will ever get married? One of my friends says, "The only thing worse than never marrying is marrying the wrong person". If I do not marry then the only way that I will have children is if I go to Africa and adopt. Keep in mind that I would not rule such an option out. Back to my point though, isn't being a mother a role of authority or am I completely out of the loop?

Anyhow, this whole story gets me back to the title of this post. After the said conversation I called my father and told him that I was very disappointed that he had never told me that I was adopted. I then went on to say that I was thirty years old and it was about time that I knew the truth. He was completely confused and then I explained the story to him and told him that I was certain that it was impossible for two individuals to be related and view the world from such entirely different perspectives. He was dying laughing by this point. My father knows both of us very well, but he is very aware of how different we are.

Now many may be thinking that my sister is going to kill me for sharing this story, but that is not at all the case. I told her that I was so floored by the conversation and I knew I would have to include this one on my blog. She laughed and said that was fine. She is not ashamed of her views nor am I. The thing that I find incredible about our relationship is despite our VERY different views we are able to discuss them without arguing, listening to both sides of the story, and agreeing to disagree. I wish that there was a lot more of that mentality in politics today. So what do think about women as ministers, presidents, vice presidents, etc? Am I just a crazy liberal or what?