A Conversation gone the wrong direction

I haven't posted much lately as life is just going along with nothing too exciting or dramatic to report on, which is a very good thing. I also realized that I was waiting for the boys to say something funny or cute to relay to the grandparents. I'm wondering if we are now past that stage and in for more serious discussions. As you'll read below I'm am certainly going to need to pause and think a bit more before answering these more serious questions and beginning a dialogue.

A conversation with Riley last week, while Conner, he, and I were driving to gymnastics.

R: I wish I was still young.
M: What do you mean? You are still young.
R: No, I mean like only 4 or 5 years old.
M: How come?
R: Then I wouldn’t understand and worry about all our political and economic troubles that are going on now.
M: Yes, that’s one of the hardest things for me to watch as you grow up. You lose your sweet innocence while learning about the world we live in.
A bit of silence passes…
R: Did all Christians vote for McCain?
M: No.
R: Would he have won if they did?
M: I don’t know.
R: Why did people vote for Obama?
M: I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you why I didn’t vote for him. I honestly don’t know much of what he stood for because I quit listening very early on. Once I heard of the numerous times and circumstances in which he voted to kill babies (note to self in here – this was not the route to take) I knew I did not want him to contribute to any law making or assigning of any justices so I didn’t pay much attention to the rest of his platform for running.
R: Why would someone kill babies?
M: Have you ever heard of the term “abortion?”
R: Yes.
M: Do you know what it means?
R: No
M: Well, it means to take a baby out of the mom’s stomach and kill it before it can live on its own in this world. It’s a very controversial subject and some people think that should be ok because they don’t really think it’s a baby. I don’t agree because someone couldn’t be pregnant if it wasn’t a baby, in the simplest terms. I think God made that life and we do not have a right to end it.

At this point I look in my review mirror and see Conner with his hands over his ears

R: Why would someone think it’s ok to kill a baby like that?

I tell him I should answer later since this is obviously not a subject for Conner to listen to (thank goodness he’s more discerning than I am at this point) and I should probably not have brought it up in the first place.

Conner pipes up: It’s ok, I’ll keep my ears covered until you’re done.

M: Ok I’ll answer Riley’s last question and then we’ll drop it until another time. In my opinion, I think the underlying reason for people wanting abortions is our sinful nature and especially our selfishness. We like things when we want them, how we want them and where we want them and a baby can seriously get in the way of that. I think adoption is a much better way to deal with a baby that comes at the wrong time in someone’s life.
R: Oh, we are really selfish.

We told Conner he could take his hands off his ears then.

I just gave Riley another reason to want to stay young.

Later I relayed this whole conversation to Andy and acknowledged my huge mistake in taking the conversation down the wrong path. His comment: Next time just stick with socialism vs. capitalism.

I’ll have to keep that in mind.