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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 09/20/2006 : 01:15:51
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....... the return of the Christian crusade.
This is another of those where it is hard to decide where to put it. "Religion" seems a little more apt than the political folder, so here it be's:
quote:
As the government of the United States ostensibly wages an unbounded and ceaseless war with Islamic religious fundamentalists, our current President, George W. Bush, has proclaimed he senses a "third awakening of religious devotion" within America. This "third awakening" that Bush cloaks, but does not conceal, is the return of Christianity as a crusade. The sheer oddity of pronouncing a rebirth of a feverish religion, in a country founded on a secular government and not a spiritual one, is the tenable reality that we have become what we most fervently oppose, despise, and scorn -- a society ruled by theocracy and not democracy.
At the core of this deep disparagement is the jumbled logic that Christianity is by "Presidential proclamation" divine and Islamic beliefs are by utter existence provocative and depraved. Fueling this incendiary insidiousness is the radicalism of the neoconservative movement through the Bush Administration that drives a country now nearly drenched in hate and racial intolerance under the banners of Christianity and patriotism.
George W. Bush, a declared, "born-again Christian", after falling prey to drugs and alcohol for years, did not accurately find God, but George did find religion. What George found in religion was not greater guidance but compulsive coercion and mangling manipulation.
The true maliciousness of this is not religion, in and of itself, but what all religious fanaticism perpetrates. Religion divides; religion causes hatred, judgment of others, bigotry, wars, militant activists, extremists, death and destruction, and impedes progress, such as the recently vetoed bill for stem cell research. There have been more people killed, maimed, and murdered in the name of religion, than for any other reason or cause in man's history. These motives, above all others, are the core purpose for separation of church and state in our country.
I seem to recall, some months after 9-11 and Bush's rather paniced flight around the country, a lady hung an on-line nickname on our excuse for a president that sent the neocon-faithful snarling into the stratosphere. Of course, if his minions had just ignored it, it would have simply gone away almost within hours. But now it has stuck.
I think that the above is a pretty good run-down on "Crusader Bunnypants."
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
 Posted - 09/20/2006 : 02:06:51 [Permalink]
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| Seems to me the fact Bush is convinced God influenced his decision to attack Iraq is the main reason he can't believe he has screwed up. It's a dangerous combination believing you are infallible because you think you are a god or you think you are doing a god's will. I have no doubt it was the same that caused many political disasters resulting in tremendous death and suffering throughout history. |
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moakley
SFN Regular
USA
1888 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 05:13:57 [Permalink]
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| Can you imagine the mental meltdown he would have if the disembodied voice in his head that he calls God ever disagreed with him. This man is more than a little scary. |
Life is good
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. -Anonymous |
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leoofno
Skeptic Friend
USA
346 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 05:46:43 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
Seems to me the fact Bush is convinced God influenced his decision to attack Iraq is the main reason he can't believe he has screwed up. It's a dangerous combination believing you are infallible because you think you are a god or you think you are doing a god's will. I have no doubt it was the same that caused many political disasters resulting in tremendous death and suffering throughout history.
Anyone have a reference for that? |
"If you're not terrified, you're not paying attention." Eric Alterman
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GeeMack
SFN Regular
USA
1093 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 06:51:23 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by leoofno...quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal...
... the fact Bush is convinced God influenced his decision to attack Iraq...
Anyone have a reference for that?
This is one of the references often provided which shows, at least to some extent, that George W. Bush seemed to be taking the advice of his god when deciding to initiate his war against Iraq...quote CBS News:
Woodward Shares War Secrets
Journalist Describes Secret Details On White House's Plans For War
Having given the order, the president walked alone around the circle behind the White House. Months later, he told [Bob] Woodward: "As I walked around the circle, I prayed that our troops be safe, be protected by the Almighty. Going into this period, I was praying for strength to do the Lord's will. I'm surely not going to justify war based upon God. Understand that. Nevertheless, in my case, I pray that I be as good a messenger of his will as possible. And then, of course, I pray for forgiveness."
Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? "I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, 'Well, no,' and then he got defensive about it," says Woodward. "Then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, 'He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.' And then he said, 'There's a higher Father that I appeal to.'"
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 14:10:31 [Permalink]
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Bush is not only a neo-conservative he is a neo-christian.
How in the hell can he call himself a christian if he wants embrace torture. For that matter how the hell can he call himself an American if he want to ignore Article 4 of the Geneva Convention. Damn, I miss the good old days where I could at least delude myself that the US was the 'goodguys'. With our wonderful 'Born Again' president throwing these illegal, immoral and evil action in our faces, I can't hope to even pretend were the 'good guys'. 
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2006 : 01:27:50 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by leoofno
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
Seems to me the fact Bush is convinced God influenced his decision to attack Iraq is the main reason he can't believe he has screwed up. It's a dangerous combination believing you are infallible because you think you are a god or you think you are doing a god's will. I have no doubt it was the same that caused many political disasters resulting in tremendous death and suffering throughout history.
Anyone have a reference for that?
There's a tremendous amount of evidence to this fact. Bush has said repeatedly he prays and feels God is guiding him. I'd like to know what evidence you have it isn't true? Certainly Bush has never admitted to being wrong even with the worst outcomes.
He speaks of "learning the lessons of Katrina" as if no one could have known beforehand. I want to know what happened to the lessons learned from Galveston, Andrew and Camille?
And he has refused to face the reality of where his Iraq policies currently stand. |
| Edited by - beskeptigal on 09/21/2006 01:28:17 |
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leoofno
Skeptic Friend
USA
346 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2006 : 05:08:00 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
quote:
Originally posted by leoofno
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
Seems to me the fact Bush is convinced God influenced his decision to attack Iraq is the main reason he can't believe he has screwed up. It's a dangerous combination believing you are infallible because you think you are a god or you think you are doing a god's will. I have no doubt it was the same that caused many political disasters resulting in tremendous death and suffering throughout history.
Anyone have a reference for that?
There's a tremendous amount of evidence to this fact. Bush has said repeatedly he prays and feels God is guiding him. I'd like to know what evidence you have it isn't true? Certainly Bush has never admitted to being wrong even with the worst outcomes.
He speaks of "learning the lessons of Katrina" as if no one could have known beforehand. I want to know what happened to the lessons learned from Galveston, Andrew and Camille?
And he has refused to face the reality of where his Iraq policies currently stand.
Hold on 'gal. I never said I thought it wasn't true. I just asked for a reference. I guess I don't post here enough for y'all to have gotten the gist of my feelings about Bush, which are much like the majority here at SFN.
However, as a skeptic I realize that I am most likely to accept, uncritically, statements that support the beliefs I already have. I already think that Bush believes he has a direct line to God, and I would really like the assertion to be true. That is why I asked for a reference. (Thanks, GeeMack .) |
"If you're not terrified, you're not paying attention." Eric Alterman
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Antigone
New Member
44 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2006 : 11:41:32 [Permalink]
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I wonder if Americans would have had the same reaction to Bush's interview with woodward if instead of the word god he used Zeus or Thor.
I wonder if Americans (back in 2003) would have protested louder and harder.
I think everytime a political leader mentions god or doing god's will we should replace it with a greek or roman god's name ... just for perspective. |
Mortui non dolent |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2006 : 19:57:21 [Permalink]
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George Bush and God A hot line to heaven is about as neutral an article as you could find. It tries to sort out if Bush is being presented in a distorted way on this issue. The author claims Bush is no more religious than Clinton or Carter because Clinton mentioned Jesus often and Carter was pretty religious. This is an absurd comparison. It isn't the fact Bush believes, it's what he believes. Despite this attempt to nullify the risk in Bush believing he is doing God's work, the article goes on to say:quote:
If you believe, along with him and John Calvin, that God involves himself in the workings of the world and all our lives, then you are always going to be vulnerable to the accusation that you think you have some sort of divine mandate.
And many more instances of Bush's God mandate are described. After reading the whole article, I feel worse Bush is on a God trip than I did before. |
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