Thursday, October 14, 2004
Presidential Faith: personal or political?
John Kerry, last night, had the opportunity to respond to Bush's comments on how his faith is a part of his position as president. (Bush clearly shared how his faith is personal, and that it will be a part of everything he does since it's such an important part of his life.)
Kerry--looking a little hesitant--told Americans he respects the president's faith, and even shares it. But then went on to give kudos to all the faiths of the world. Ahh, such political savvy for a guy looking for votes and watching the polls.
Here's his quote: "Everything is a gift from the Almighty. And as I measure the words of the Bible -- and we all do; different people measure different things -- the Koran, the Torah, or, you know, Native Americans who gave me a blessing the other day had their own special sense of connectedness to a higher being. And people all find their ways to express it."
Then Kerry went on to say we should love our neighbor, but the Bush administration hasn't done a good job at that.
Here's my point that needs to be highlighted. Bush talked about his faith in a personal way. You can tell he talks to God in a personal way and that it's a staple ingredient of his life. Kerry, on the other hand, threw out some religious terms that would make everyone happy, but then bashed President Bush as he quoted scripture about loving thy neighbor.
Now, I obviously have no sure-fire way or knowing the inner heart of each man. But by their statements, their practices, and my observations...I would dare to say Bush's faith is personal, and that Kerry's seems to be a little more political.
Those are my thoughts.....go ahead and pull out your guns and shoot at 'em.
Read the entire debate transcript here
let the truth B told
-T
Kerry--looking a little hesitant--told Americans he respects the president's faith, and even shares it. But then went on to give kudos to all the faiths of the world. Ahh, such political savvy for a guy looking for votes and watching the polls.
Here's his quote: "Everything is a gift from the Almighty. And as I measure the words of the Bible -- and we all do; different people measure different things -- the Koran, the Torah, or, you know, Native Americans who gave me a blessing the other day had their own special sense of connectedness to a higher being. And people all find their ways to express it."
Then Kerry went on to say we should love our neighbor, but the Bush administration hasn't done a good job at that.
Here's my point that needs to be highlighted. Bush talked about his faith in a personal way. You can tell he talks to God in a personal way and that it's a staple ingredient of his life. Kerry, on the other hand, threw out some religious terms that would make everyone happy, but then bashed President Bush as he quoted scripture about loving thy neighbor.
Now, I obviously have no sure-fire way or knowing the inner heart of each man. But by their statements, their practices, and my observations...I would dare to say Bush's faith is personal, and that Kerry's seems to be a little more political.
Those are my thoughts.....go ahead and pull out your guns and shoot at 'em.
Read the entire debate transcript here
let the truth B told
-T
Comments:
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This is Xena_warrior88, it won’t let me post under my name for some reason.
The real question; does the president let his personal faith color decisions he makes a little too much? The quote made by Bush about having consulted a higher power before going to Iraq can be taken two ways. 1) A simple acknowledgment of a need for divine intervention or, 2) A statement claiming divine endorsement. The former is perfectly acceptable; the later is a Pandora’s Box I don't even want to get into.
I also wonder if the president’s faith has colored his views on gay marriage a little too much. In one breath he says that he wants the government to stay out of peoples lives as much as possible and in the next he is limiting people’s right for a civil union. Understand, I believe there is a difference between civil marriage and the religious institution of marriage. The government has no right to tell churches they have to ordain homosexual ministers, allow gay marriage ceremonies, or teach acceptance, nor does the government have the right to deny the non-religious civil union of state marriage to homosexuals.
The next issue is abortion. This is where I part with John Kerry. Abortion is not merely a moral issue, it is a civil issue. In my view abortion is no different than slavery. The slave states did not want big government telling them what to do. The issue has moved from state rights to individual rights. The stupidity behind the southern states arguments was that they ignored the rights of the slaves themselves. The stupidity behind the individual rights argument is that it ignores the rights of the infant.
All that being said, I think Bush's religious views, may have overly colored his approach toward stem cell research. I realize this is a complicated and sensitive issue, but I'm not sure Bush has given the researchers enough space to work with. When the results could lead to the end of Alzheimer’s, dementia, paralysis, and just about every other disease you can think of, it is a lack of respect for life not to push the envelope a little.
We want president that have principles, something solid they stand on. But, at the same time they must always remember that their position is not to legislate morality, they should never over step their bounds.
The real question; does the president let his personal faith color decisions he makes a little too much? The quote made by Bush about having consulted a higher power before going to Iraq can be taken two ways. 1) A simple acknowledgment of a need for divine intervention or, 2) A statement claiming divine endorsement. The former is perfectly acceptable; the later is a Pandora’s Box I don't even want to get into.
I also wonder if the president’s faith has colored his views on gay marriage a little too much. In one breath he says that he wants the government to stay out of peoples lives as much as possible and in the next he is limiting people’s right for a civil union. Understand, I believe there is a difference between civil marriage and the religious institution of marriage. The government has no right to tell churches they have to ordain homosexual ministers, allow gay marriage ceremonies, or teach acceptance, nor does the government have the right to deny the non-religious civil union of state marriage to homosexuals.
The next issue is abortion. This is where I part with John Kerry. Abortion is not merely a moral issue, it is a civil issue. In my view abortion is no different than slavery. The slave states did not want big government telling them what to do. The issue has moved from state rights to individual rights. The stupidity behind the southern states arguments was that they ignored the rights of the slaves themselves. The stupidity behind the individual rights argument is that it ignores the rights of the infant.
All that being said, I think Bush's religious views, may have overly colored his approach toward stem cell research. I realize this is a complicated and sensitive issue, but I'm not sure Bush has given the researchers enough space to work with. When the results could lead to the end of Alzheimer’s, dementia, paralysis, and just about every other disease you can think of, it is a lack of respect for life not to push the envelope a little.
We want president that have principles, something solid they stand on. But, at the same time they must always remember that their position is not to legislate morality, they should never over step their bounds.
# posted by 
: 9:46 AM
: 9:46 AM
Here's another question to explore:
Does having faith make someone a good leader? Does President Bush's faith make him a better leader than any other Joe off the street? President Bush is a Christian, and I can think of plenty of Christians I don't want running my country. However, I can think of many other people who would be great. Faith should not be the only thing we look at to decide our vote. Unfortunately, the majority of evangelicals will vote for Bush solely because he is one of them.
Does having faith make someone a good leader? Does President Bush's faith make him a better leader than any other Joe off the street? President Bush is a Christian, and I can think of plenty of Christians I don't want running my country. However, I can think of many other people who would be great. Faith should not be the only thing we look at to decide our vote. Unfortunately, the majority of evangelicals will vote for Bush solely because he is one of them.
# posted by : 2:30 PM
: 2:30 PM
This is x-na_warrior88
To commonsenseman: It is hardly true that just having faith makes one a better leader. And it is even less true that it doesn’t matter what faith or conviction it is. Adolph Hitler was a man of faith and conviction in the Arian race, Joseph Stalin believed very strongly in humanism, Osama Bin Laden is a devout, radical Muslim. These are all men of faith, men of conviction.
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To commonsenseman: It is hardly true that just having faith makes one a better leader. And it is even less true that it doesn’t matter what faith or conviction it is. Adolph Hitler was a man of faith and conviction in the Arian race, Joseph Stalin believed very strongly in humanism, Osama Bin Laden is a devout, radical Muslim. These are all men of faith, men of conviction.
# posted by : 9:19 AM
: 9:19 AM << Home
