10-25-2004, 02:45 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Junkie
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Bush thinks God wants him as President
Quote:
Religious right believes Bush truly is the candidate of God
October 26, 2004
Does God favour the Republican George Bush or the Democrat John Kerry? Bush supporters have no doubts.
"God is out there, actively campaigning for President Bush," said Beverly Ryan, a retired legal secretary and born-again Christian from West Palm Beach, Florida.
But Barry Lynn, a United Church of Christ minister and the executive director of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said: "It is, I think, extremely dangerous for people to believe that God is a Republican or a Democrat or a Naderite or even a Libertarian."
When Mr Bush sought the presidency in 2000 he played down his religious convictions and played up his "compassionate conservative" values. But his political strategist, Karl Rove, realised that about 4 million evangelical Christian voters had not turned out in 2000, and set out a plan to get them on board in this year's re-election campaign.
Mr Bush's campaign has made no secret that it wants support from the 40 million Americans who consider themselves evangelical Christians.
Mr Bush has reportedly suggested that he is not only putting his faith in his God, but apparently believes that he is an agent of God's plans.
In the The Faith of George W. Bush, a sympathetic portrait written by Stephen Mansfield, the author recounts a statement that a Texas minister said Mr Bush made to him in 1999.
"I feel like God wants me to run for President," Mr Bush reportedly told James Robison.
"I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me."
Senator Kerry, after months of saying little about his own Catholic faith, has in recent weeks started to criticise Mr Bush obliquely.
At the urging of advisers, he has also started speaking seriously about his own Catholic faith.
At the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Miami he spoke of politicians who "talk a lot" about faith but who don't back up the talk with programs to help the needy.
"It is written in James: 'What does it mean, my brother, to say that you have faith if there are no deeds?"' Senator Kerry told a predominantly black congregation.
"Faith without works is dead."
That is a persuasive argument for Todd Daniel, who said he was supporting Senator Kerry, despite their disagreement on abortion, because of his interest in helping the disadvantaged.
"It's a strong Christian value," Mr Daniel said. "I just think that John Kerry is going to help more people in the United States achieve the American dream."
Heidi Wilson, 48, a schoolteacher, who attended a recent rally by Mr Bush in West Palm Beach, said Senator Kerry's support of abortion rights showed he was not a serious Catholic. "The Pope would be ashamed of him."
For the Bush faithful, whether Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11 terrorists attacks is irrelevant. Mr Bush had all the justification he needed to attack Iraq in the Bible.
Beverly Ryan said: "George Bush did what God wanted him to do. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks?"
Cox News Service
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REF: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/...667694439.html
Wow. I respect everyone's faith, but I think there should be a clear seperation of church and state. Isn't a Presidential candidate using his faith as an election gimmick a little too close to breaking that rule?
Mr Mephisto
Last edited by Mephisto2; 10-25-2004 at 02:47 PM..
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