Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Bush the Deist


"Thanks for comin', padres."

I didn't think it was possible for Dubya to alienate more people at this point with so little time and so few people left to alienate. But we can add Bible-believing Christians to that list after his Nightline interview.

In case you missed it, as I did...
"Asked about creation and evolution, Bush said: 'I think you can have both. I think evolution can -- you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president.' "
Hey, Obama got away with the "above my pay grade" abortion dodge, right?

"The president also said that he prays to the same God as those with different religious beliefs.

'I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people,' Bush said.

Charo... Desmond Tutu... Larry the Cable Guy... We're all children of the same loving almighty/Supreme Being/Spirit Entity.

"Interviewer Cynthia McFadden asked Bush if the Bible was literally true.

'You know. Probably not. ... No, I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament for example is ... has got ... You know, the important lesson is 'God sent a son,' Bush said."

Bush went on to explain his wide-open border policy with Mexico was, in fact, due largely to God having named His Son "Jesus, which of course is Esp'nole for 'Allah' or some such."

Man... Washington D.C. can really do a number on your soul, can't it? Though for the record, I still think he's still been a stellar wartime Commander in Chief and thank the real God he was at the helm Sept. 11, 2001 instead of Albert Gore, Jr.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Bush went on to explain his wide-open border policy with Mexico was, in fact, due largely to God having named His Son "Jesus, which of course is Esp'nole for 'Allah' or some such."


Holl-eee Cow! He actually said that?

I don't see how Washington,D.C. made him say that. Maybe what the dems and late night hosters have been right all along, sadly.
--CI Photog

Anonymous said...

I believe Evolutionism and Creationism are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I'm not plunging into a deep debate about it that no one wins. Both sides seem terrified or are too bull-headed to give the other any ground, and that's silly.
Psalm 19: 1-3 verifies everything we've discovered through telescopes and microscopes and just plain opening our eyes and looking around.
--CI Photog

Splash said...

Nah, he didn't actually say that. Just me cutting up. Probably should have made that clearer. He's gotta be pretty used to being misquoted at this point, tho, I guess.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe nobody's pointed out the President meeting with ZZ Top's family.

Splash said...

I almost went with that, but I was afraid nobody under 25 would know who they are.

Anonymous said...

As a devout Catholic, I really don't see anything wrong with what he said. Nothing about evolutionary adaptation is incompatible with Christianity. And I doubt that the majority of Christians accept every word of the Bible as literally factual. I know I sure don't. Bush is right; while there are literal truths in the Bible, such as the truth that Jesus is God's Son, a lot of the more fantastic elements, especially those in the Old Testament, should be read as containing general truths about God's relationship with humanity.

And your post title is inaccurate. Anyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God cannot be considered a Deist. Thomas Jefferson was a Deist. Isaac Newton, by most accounts, was a Deist. Bush is not a Deist.

Splash said...

"...I doubt that the majority of Christians accept every word of the Bible as literally factual."

The Bible, of course, is comprised of different types of literature. Where history is written, we must assume fact is intended. Where wisdom literature or prophecy are found literalism obviously wasn't intended. But since most American Christians -- incorrectly IMHO -- even read 'Revelation' literally, I'd say you're probably wrong on the numbers.

What Bush said was disappointing because it reflects the mindset that says "believe of scripture only what the 'great minds' of this world decree you safely may."

Personally, I prefer erring on the side of "over-belief" to falling short of the mark. The potential eternal consequences are far more bearable, to put it mildly.

But you're right about the headline. Bush would really be more of a universalist, which puts him outside orthodoxy nearly as far. Because when you claim Jesus and Buddha save, do you really know Christ at all?

Newton was no Deist, tho. He was (they say) Arian in his Christianity. Which, if true, would put him outside orthodoxy, too.