Bush's fundamentalism seen as a decisive, negative factor in his policies

[kpete]

Bush's fundamentalism seen as a decisive, negative factor in his policies
COMMENTARY | August 04, 2006

Former White House reporter Saul Friedman says that, for the first time in modern American history, a president’s religion is determining policies, and the press should do a better job reporting it.

By Saul Friedman
[e-mail]

There is an alien influence, mostly unpublicized, running like an undercurrent beneath the Bush administration's Middle East policies. It may help explain George W. Bush's single-mindedness, his oblivious inability to face reality as his war in Iraq, his war against terror and his policies towards Arabs and Israeli have collapsed.

I say "alien," because I believe this to be the first time in modern American history that a president's religion, in this case his Christian fundamentalism, has become a decisive factor in his foreign and domestic policies. It’s a factor that has been under-reported, to say the least, and that begs for press attention.

Bush, who says he reads the Bible daily, acknowledges his fundamentalist beliefs. Biblical and Middle East scholar Karen Armstrong writes in The Guardian, "Whatever Bush's personal beliefs, the ideology of the Christian right is both familiar and congenial to him. This strange amalgam of ideas can perhaps throw light on the behavior of a president who, it is said, believes God chose him to lead the world toward Rapture, who has little interest in social reform, and whose selective concern for life issues has now inspired him to veto important scientific research.

"It explains his unconditional support for Israel, his willingness to use 'Jewish End-Time warriors' to fulfill a vision of his own, arguably against Israel's best interest, and to see Syria and Iran...as entirely responsible for the unfolding tragedy."

more at:
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00114

[Warpy]

1. In yer guts, you know he's nuts

and that's a good thing. Lots of people are starting to realize the guy doesn't have a special telephone line to god and whatever he's listening to, it's not telling him the truth.

He's seen as arrogant and incapable of recognizing mistakes under the best of circumstances. Now people are starting to realize that his hearing voices and calling it god is not a good sign.

It's about bloody time!

[TahitiNut]

13. Hey! Please don't say "nuts" like it's a Bad Thing™

:silly:

[B3Nut]

15. Sometimes "nuts" is a good thing!

:D

Just not in this case, with the induhvidual in question. ;)

Todd in Beerbratistan

[kurth]

2. And we're paying for this nutjob to destroy us

You can do an incredible amount of damage in EIGHT years.

[Wickerman]

3. Great article

what Friedman leaves out, and is smart enough to know that Bush is either using the cloak of fundamentalism or is being used by those (the smart ones) who have bastardized fundamentalism to their own means - that of wealth generations. These folks, Bush** included, don't give two holy shits about end times and Biblical prophecy - they are all about wealth and power accumulation.

[rodeodance]

4. yes. this is one of four related articles I just posted in Editor here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x226817

[Richard Steele]

5. I have never believed his "fundamentalism" was genuine.

It's just a ploy to whip up some support amongst
the most radical American fringe elements.

Other than the occasional Fundy code phrase dropped into his speeches,
where is the evidence that this guy believes ANYTHING?

Simple GREED explains his actions perfectly well- no need to look for
more complicated explanations.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. We Have A Winner!

I think it's all been fake, to get the drones to vote for him. His "bible" is imperialist dogma, and the Bible in the White House has 2" of dust on it. The Radical Christian Right has merely been fished in.
The Professor

[TahitiNut]

12. I doubt it's "genuine" in most of the 'flock.'

These are not the most rational people I've ever met. Not by a long shot. The pulpit parasites are the worst. In my experience, their 'faith' is nothing but secular bigotry dressed up on Sunday with a hangover.

[madrchsod]

6. he is not a fundamentalist.

he uses fundamentalism to achieve his goals. if he were a fundy he would`t be going to an methodist church in washington. the writers mentioned glamorized bush without realizing that he just a little mommy`s boy that has never grown up and if he doesn`t get his way he blows up frogs.

[kurth]

7. Exactly. Fundies I know talk like... Ned Flanders

Bush talks like a scummy street thug.

[nancyr]

9. Fake, fake, etc

It occurred to me many years ago that apparently God only "talks" to crazy people. When he starts to communicate with a mentally sound person then maybe I'll pay attention.

[TahitiNut]

14. You forgot to mention: smearing his body with Crisco oil.

John Ashcroft - the gift of insanity that just keeps giving.

[gratuitous]

10. Whether Bush believes his fundy talking points or not

It is a fact that the popular media don't report on its influence in how Bush conducts his administration. And I think that's attributable to fear and ignorance. The media are afraid of the Bush administration, and not without reason. But they're also largely ignorant of just what goes into the fundy eschatological mix.

The "Left Behind" series, the Hal Lindsey/John Hagee axis, and all the rest of it operates in a sphere that the media avoid examining very closely. Sure, they'll have these nutjobs on to spout and spew and give them a hearing, mostly out of amusement mixed with fear, and a smidgen of the respect we all accord to someone else's "religious" beliefs. But understanding the mechanics and the nuances (such as they are) of this startlingly comprehensive worldview just isn't something that the media are interested in delving into.

The end-times stuff is very complicated, internally inconsistent, deliberately ambiguous in crucial respects, and delivered by its adherents with all the assurance and conviction of the clinically insane. A reasonable analysis would require just too much time, risk offending too many people for "trampling" on their loony beliefs, and due to the half-assed nature of most investigative reporting nowadays, be totally misunderstood. So the popular media just pretends it doesn't exist, or pretends that these dangerous, unbiblical and unchristian beliefs are benign and tolerable, and just elides all coverage.

[TahitiNut]

11. Karen Armstrong is an extraordinary voice of reason regarding religion.

I read and respect her books ... balanced, rational, thorough, and solid.