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On Belief
Steven Waldman
Heaven Sent?
The President's supporters have repeatedly implied that God was
partly responsible for Bush's election
Adapted from an article first appearing in Slate
"The president's faith has been misunderstood," White House
aide Jim Towey recently told the Associated Press. "I don't see him as any
different from his predecessors, both Democrats and Republicans."
Towey is partly right. Democrats tend to overreact to Bush's
public use of religious rhetoric, which has usually been responsible,
inspiring, and poetic. Typical was the moment during his convention speech
in which he marveled at those who had prayed for him despite their own
losses.
But while Bush's official comments about faith have been
mostly within the mainstream tradition of presidential rhetoric, his
supporters lately have gone in a less-familiar direction: conveying the
idea that God is responsible for Bush being in the White House.
"He is one of those men God and fate somehow lead to the fore
in times of challenge," said George Pataki in the high-profile
introduction of Bush at the Republican National Convention, an
introduction almost certainly scrubbed if not written by the White House.
"I thank God that on September 11th we had a president who
didn't wring his hands and wonder what America had done wrong to deserve
this attack," he added. "I thank God we had a president who understood
that America was attacked, not for what we had done wrong, but for what we
did right."
If he'd said "thank God" just once we might have concluded
this was simply colloquial usage-a dramatic way of saying, "It's a darn
good thing." That the man introducing Bush thanked God three times makes
it suspicious, even more so given these lines from Rudy Giuliani's speech
two nights earlier: "Spontaneously, I grabbed the arm of then Police
Commissioner Bernard Kerik and said to Bernie, 'Thank God George Bush is
our president.' And," to reinforce the point, Giuliani added, "And I say
it again tonight: Thank God George Bush is our president."
Perhaps Pataki and Giuliani snuck in all those "thank Gods"
without the Bush campaign noticing. Not likely. William Smith, a
Republican political consultant who used to work with Karl Rove, says,
"Having been there and worked with Karl, there's not a phrase or comma by
anyone-down to the cleanup crew-that he didn't write or approve."
This is not the first time it's been suggested that God
deserves thanks for the 2000 election results. Several sympathetic books
about Bush and his faith make a big deal of his deciding to run for
president after hearing a Texas minister named Rev. Mark Craig preach
about how Moses had been called to service by God. Bush's mother
reportedly turned to her son after the sermon and said, "He was talking to
you."
Stephen Mansfield, author of The Faith of George W. Bush, goes
on to say: "Not long after, Bush called James Robison (a prominent
minister) and told him, 'I've heard the call. I believe God wants me to
run for President.' " Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention
heard Bush say something similar: "Among the things he said to us was, 'I
believe God wants me to be President, but if that doesn't happen, it's
OK.'"
After 9/11, the sense among his supporters that God had chosen
him increased. "I think that God picked the right man at the right time
for the right purpose," said popular Christian broadcaster Janet Parshall.
Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, who got in trouble for derogatory comments
about Islam, argued that it must have been God who selected Bush, since a
plurality of voters hadn't. "Why is this man in the White House? The
majority of America did not vote for him. He's in the White House because
God put him there for a time such as this." (Boykin still has his job.)
Time magazine reported, "Privately, Bush talked of being
chosen by the grace of God to lead at that moment." World Magazine, a
conservative Christian publication, quoted White House official Tim
Goeglein as saying, "I think President Bush is God's man at this hour, and
I say this with a great sense of humility."
Even former President George H.W. Bush speculated that perhaps
he needed to be defeated so that his son could become president: "If I'd
won that election in 1992, my oldest son would not be president of the
United States of America," he said. "I think the Lord works in mysterious
ways."
Are the White House and the Bush campaign actively encouraging
the idea that Bush has been put there by God? Bush has been careful never
to say anything close to that in public. And yet the combination of
passages in carefully vetted speeches and quotes from close friends or
supporters indicate that this is the understanding.
In one sense, it's not surprising that some people believe
this. Many, if not most, Americans believe that God intervenes in the
lives of humans. If that weren't the case, prayer might be considered
superfluous, meaningless. If God intervenes in the affairs of ordinary
humans who pray for recovery from illness or a better job, it only stands
to reason that He would control something as consequential as an American
presidency.
Other presidents certainly believed that God was guiding
America's fate. James Madison referred to the "Almighty Being whose power
regulates the destiny of nations." Andrew Jackson beseeched that "He will
continue to make our beloved country the object of His divine care and
gracious benediction." Even Thomas Jefferson, considered a Deist, said it
was the Supreme Being "who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their
native land and ... who has covered our infancy with His providence and
our riper years with his wisdom and power."
Yet it's hard to recall another instance of a presidential
campaign so confidently promulgating the idea that its candidate had
divine endorsement. The potentially dangerous implication is that since
God put George W. Bush in the White House, opposing him is opposing Him. A
person could get smited for that.
Of course, it's always possible God did put George W. Bush in
the White House. But if He did, it doesn't theologically follow that He
wants him to have a second term. Even those who believe that God controls
world events usually concede it is hard for humans to divine the intent of
the Divine.
After all, in the Bible, God is described as doing things for
all sorts of inexplicable reasons-sometimes as a reward to the people, and
sometimes as a punishment.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/152/story_15261_1.html
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| User: "Angel-n-The Whirlwind" |
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| Title: Re: Is the Chimp 'heaven sent'? |
09 Oct 2005 12:13:47 PM |
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No one's sent by any supernatural being. There are no supernatural beings.
Stop with the juvenile magical thinking crap, please.
Are you, doc boy, hell sent?
What a maroon you are. No wonder Jean wanted you out of this group. I have
to admit you're a snaky, smarmy little parasite who has, up to now, fed on
the blood of posters here. You're a survivor -- that much I can commend
you on. Yet you contribute little or nothing to real discourse on
prophecy. You're like the front man for the National Enquirer.
I bet you worry all the time about getting cut off from the net.
rofl...it's your life blood, you little parasite.
a n t w ''''
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| User: "Doc" |
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| Title: Re: Is the Chimp 'heaven sent'? |
10 Oct 2005 11:02:52 AM |
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"Angel-n-The Whirlwind" <wiccansplendor@cauldron.net> wrote in message
news:dibj4g$7lf$1@domitilla.aioe.org...
No one's sent by any supernatural being. There are no supernatural
beings. Stop with the juvenile magical thinking crap, please.
Are you, doc boy, hell sent?
What a maroon you are. No wonder Jean wanted you out of this group. I
have to admit you're a snaky, smarmy little parasite who has, up to now,
fed on the blood of posters here. You're a survivor -- that much I can
commend you on. Yet you contribute little or nothing to real discourse
on prophecy. You're like the front man for the National Enquirer.
I bet you worry all the time about getting cut off from the net.
rofl...it's your life blood, you little parasite.
a n t w ''''
Someone finally found my archilles heel...my curse of weakness...yes, I'm
addicted and my name is Doc. I am a usenet addict.
Doc ;)
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| User: "Marvin The Paranoid Android" |
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| Title: Re: Is the Chimp 'heaven sent'? |
10 Oct 2005 02:11:55 PM |
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Doc wrote:
"Angel-n-The Whirlwind" <wiccansplendor@cauldron.net> wrote in message
news:dibj4g$7lf$1@domitilla.aioe.org...
No one's sent by any supernatural being. There are no supernatural
beings. Stop with the juvenile magical thinking crap, please.
Are you, doc boy, hell sent?
What a maroon you are. No wonder Jean wanted you out of this group. I
have to admit you're a snaky, smarmy little parasite who has, up to
now, fed on the blood of posters here. You're a survivor -- that much
I can commend you on. Yet you contribute little or nothing to real
discourse on prophecy. You're like the front man for the National
Enquirer.
I bet you worry all the time about getting cut off from the net.
rofl...it's your life blood, you little parasite.
a n t w ''''
Someone finally found my archilles heel...my curse of weakness...yes,
I'm addicted and my name is Doc. I am a usenet addict.
Doc ;)
<group>
Hi Doc!
We agree with the above pots.
</group>
--
The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.
-Carl Jung
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