Welcome to Gaia! ::

My religious beliefs influence me slightly in my moral and ethical beliefs which influence my polictical leanings, does that count? xp

For the most part I'm liberal. To the point where I'm for legalizing prostitution, however I'm against abortion. So this makes it hard for me to choose one party, as there are none that I agree with completely.

Hmmm....I don't totally fit anywhere either.

Overall, I'm a moderate. However I am a social conservative with some of the big issues so that gives the impression that I am Republican all the way.

Not exactly...

I try to find more material reasons to back my beliefs other then saying "God said it's wrong" because many people find that to be a totally unsatisfactory answer.

In the case of homosexuality...laws are laws. I don't care what the government says, . But I do support a religion's right to refuse marriage to those they wish because such a bond would not find favor in the eyes of their god. I know that there are people who would seriously question me possibly marrying to my boyfriend simply because he is Episcopalian/Agnostic and I'm Catholic. But I respect those traditions even though I do not agree with them.

Just for kicks I did the political compass at http://www.politicalcompass.org/. I like this little online quiz because it allows more breathing room. It takes your beliefs and opinions and doesn't place you in a pilotical party but shows you where you seem to stand in the social and ecomonic spectrum. At the end, you can see a chart that will show how you compare with other people in history.

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: 0.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.46

Just slightly Authoritarian but pretty much right smack in the middle ofthe grid.

Economic Left/Right: -3.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.64

No where near the middle, looks like I'm a Marxist Communist, even though, I consider myself a moderate.

Economic Left/Right: -7.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.46

Oh, but who says being a hippy is a bad thing? ^__^

eek Someone more liberal than me! You're the first one I've met... blaugh

Economic Left/Right: -4.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.56

hehe..im close to ghandi

My religious views do not affect my political views. I strongly support the separation of religion and government. ((or as it's usually called: church and state))

There are two books you should read, since they would basically go along with your political/economic stance they are:
Das Kapital - Marx
The Communist Manifesto - Marx

i did read Das Kapital, or tried to. it was very dry reading, or else an awkward translation. Marx was not very kind to religion either, although he did say it filled a real need in easing some of the pain of the masses.

i was impressed with how well he picked apart the problems of industrial society, and i agree that anyone who works should own or have a vital interest in their product and not just be "labor capital".

but i can't say his action proposals were very realistic.