Bush and "faith based initiatives"

Please quench my thirst of curiosity and also help me along the way with a paper... what do the people here think about faith based initiatives that bush is planning to undertake? Is faith better than reason? Or is this another one of his psychological tactics to make himself the dictator of new Jesusland that we currently call our country - "USA"

 

I dont think its a good idea at all. This country was founded on the idea of seperation of church and state. The founders wanted to seperate from England BECAUSE they ruled with religion. Now Bush is slowly trying to take us back to that. Bad bad bad idea. ESP. when this is a country with more than just one religion....and a lot of people who dont even believe in ANY religion. Yes there has to be a line between what is right and wrong...but I think that can be found without bringing religion into the picture. Its fine that Bush is a "man of faith" and all...but he needs to figure out a way to keep his faith in his personal life and be a fair leader...respectful of not just followers of his same religion but all religions and ones who dont have a religion. I honestly believe the only way to do that is not bring ANY religion into the picture AT ALL.

 

Think of it this way: Whenever religion* intertwines with government, bad shit happens. Manifest Destiny, the Nazis, the various Jihads that happen (including the one we're in now), those are all perfect examples.


*By religion I don't mean the actual teaching that the religion preaches, just the simple bending of the religion that leaders confuse with their own biases, and then preach that onto the people they rule.

 

soulrebel, that is a good point

 

I don't think that a leader of a country - especially one that's as diverse as the US - ought to give religious cermons about how to run a country.

 

Bushs' enthusiam concerning religion is possibly the most frightening aspect of this man. It would be preferable if he was a superstitous god fearing catholic who put all his faith in the pope or something rather than a rogue tyrant who thinks he is gods´appointed messenger on earth to carry out the divine will, come hell or high water, regardless of what anybody else says.

 

HAHAHA you are so right my friend.

 

Why is it fine that he is a "man of faith" , in fact why do we even need to know if he is a "man of faith" , how did this "man of faith" opinion of bush affect your voting? Do you think he got more votes because he is "A man of faith"? What do the people think here?

 

As far as the faith-based-initiatives are concerned, they worry me because of their narrow scope in regards to faith. Though what worries me more is that Bush isnt sincere about them, and is just using them to court the Christian vote...

 

Here's a news article I posted in the Christianity forum. Seems appropriate to this thread. Its somewhat long, but well written. (btw, I don't claim to be a christian, but the guy makes some valid points.)It's too big to use as an attachment so here: I'm going to use up a lottaspace!!!!
***********************************************************
2004 The Miami Herald
Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.
Leonard Pitts Jr.

Where is the Christian left when you need it?

I have to thank Jimmy Carter for saving my sanity.

Granted, his was not a presidency one looks back to with fondness. Gas lines stretched forever, Iran took our people hostage and there was disco, besides.

But Carter's ex-presidency has been a model of that unofficial institution. He has built homes for the poor, mediated wars, helped feed the hungry in Africa, fought disease in Latin America. In so doing, Carter, a deacon of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., has obeyed a directive Jesus issued to his disciples.

Do you love me? He asked Simon Peter.

Peter said yes.

Feed my sheep said Jesus.

Remembering Carter's example, his very public embrace of that command, is what has gotten me through the last week without a facial tic. Or to put it another way: If one more person tells me "morality" guided their decision to vote for George W. Bush, my head is going to pop like a balloon.

Beg pardon, but one is hard pressed to find much evidence of morality in Bush's ineptly prosecuted war, his erosion of civil rights, and the loss of international crediblity his policies have caused. Unless, of course, one has been quaking in one's boots at the prospect of same-sex couples making a commitment straight couples have avoided like SARS. In that case the vote probably reflects one's morality just fine.

More's the pity.

No political tactician am I, but I think Democrats made a fundamental mistake when the Christian right rose as a political force: They watched it happen, ceded God to the GOP without resistance, without so much as a beg your pardon. Democrats, fearful of unsettling the secular West and Northeast, only shrugged as the Almighty was packed up and shipped South, where He is to this day routinely trotted out to endorse various would-be governors, senators and school board members.

Small wonder faith has come to seem inextricable from voting the straight Republican ticket.

And if you are, as I am, a Christian who remembers what Jesus told Simon Peter, it is galling to see Him reduced to a GOP shill, wrapped in a flag and used as a prop to advance a conservative agenda. Which, by the way, stands the Bible on its head.

After all, the book says Jesus consorted with lepers and prostitutes. It says He talked with women-- which was beneath a man of His time and place-- and washed the feet of his followers.

And it tells us He said things that seemed to make no logical sense.

If someone takes your shirt, let him have your cloak as well.

If someone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the left.

Love your enemies.

This was crazy talk. There was nothing conservative about this man.

So I look at the success of conservatives on the so-called Christian right have had in claiming Him as their exclusive property and I wonder, where in the heck is the Christian left? Where are the people who preach-- and live-- the biblical values of inclusion, service, humility, sacrifice, and why haven't they coalesced into an alternative political force?

Instead of a movement like that, we have an old peanut farmer building houses.

You wish there was more. You wish there were Christian people shouting from the rooftops that these other people, with their small minds and niggardly spirits, do not represent all of us. And that the faith exemplified by the politics of exclusion is not the faith the rest of us celebrate, not the faith that lifts us and settles us and makes us whole.

But nobody's shouting these things. It occurs to me that maybe ther're all too busy building houses for poor people. And that maybe I should be as well.

God bless you, Jimmy Carter, wherever you are.

(Leonard Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald. Readers may contact him at 888-251-4407. or via email at lpitts@herald.com.

 

G.W. Bush, and "FAITH". Now THAT'S a contridiction in terms! When I think of this man, whom I believe needs an Aide to tye his own shoes, I lose faith!

 

What does shoe-tying ability have to do with being President?

 

Its fine that he is a "man of faith" (I called it that since thats what a lot of people tend to all him) because everyone has something they believe in. He just happens to believe in Christianity. Thats fine for HIM...but not everyone. His personal religious beliefs should have nothing to do with how he runs this country. The key word there is personal and it should stay that way.

It didnt really affect my voting too too much. I already didnt like him because of his stand on other issues such as the war, the economy, how he is dealing with other countries, gay rights and abortion. Yes, his religious beliefs have a lot to do with how he feels about the last two things I listed, but the reason I didnt vote for him had to do with more than JUST that.

And yes I think his "moral values" had a lot to do with him getting more votes. People who agree with his values most likely voted for him. I dont think that should be the case...as people should vote based on more than just "hey, hes christian too..he must be a good person!". PLEASE.

I strongly dislike Bush and the direction he's headed. I think its scary he thinks God personally picked him to lead our country. That right there just goes to show he's not right in the head.