George Bush, Christian Crusader

David Brooks recently interviewed George Bush and noted that Bush is defending the war based upon religion:

“It’s more of a theological perspective. I do believe there is an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to all is freedom. And I will tell you that is a principle that no one can convince me that doesn’t exist.”

With the collapse of the justification for the war based upon WMD and terrorism it is no surprise that Bush is falling back on religion. After all, George Bush believes God chose him to be President and advised him to go to war in Iraq. If Bush wasn’t such a shallow thinker, he might see the problems in this view. While he learned the hard way that he cannot use the word “Crusade,” he is behaving more as a Christian Crusader than the leader of a modern republican when he justifies war based upon religion. Imagine the reaction if a leader of a nation such as Iran were to argue for going to war based upon spreading their nation’s religious and ethical ideals.

If Bush weren’t such a shallow thinker, he might also see another problem in justifying the war based upon his religious views. Many religious leaders have condemned the war as immoral but that doesn’t bother him. President Bush is so much like Lil’ Bush in the Comedy Central show brushing off God when God promotes views contrary to his own narrow views.

Fortunately for George Bush, he is too shallow a thinker to be bothered by the ramifications of his theological argument–which is quite unfortunate for the rest of us.

11 Comments

  1. 1
    susan says:

    Great post. I can’t decide who does a better job of capturing George Bush–you or the writers of Lil’ Bush!

  2. 2
    Donald Douglas says:

    You underestimate the president when you say he’s “shallow.” Bush came to office with a well-developed set of beliefs about government.He’s a shrewd politician, and he doesn’t back down in political fights easy. It’s also simple to call say the Iraq war a failure because of “the collapse of the justification for the war based upon WMD and terrorism.” First, postwar reports said Saddam could have easily reconstituted his WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT program had he been disarmed under U.N. auspices. Second, the war had bipartisan support when authorized under contgressional legislation, and the auhtorization listed more than a dozen justification for regime change. It wasn’t just WMD. The anti-religious attack on Bush lacks substance. It’s clear you had the administration but can’t find a deeply rational argument to base your animosity.

  3. 3
    Ron Chusid says:

    Bush certainly has not shown any ability to look at problems beyond a superficial level, but I do agree he’s a shrewd politician. Unfortunatley his knowledge of politics does not extend to developing either sensible domestic or foreign policy.

    The theoretical ability to rearm was hardly justification for a preemptive war. Saddam was contained, and at the time al Qaeda was the major problem. It made no sense to get involved in a war, without a reasonable strategy to win, when the obvious consequence from the start was strengthening al Qaeda (as well as Iran, who was much closer to really having WMD).

    The war did not have bipartisan support. Bush first got the IWR passed based upon lies, both with regards to the presence of WMD and as to Bush’s intentions to seek a dkplomatic settlemnt. Once the inspectors were back in there was no longer a need for Bush to use force but he misused his authorization.

    The criticism of Bush for using a religious pretense for an unnecessary war certainly does have substance. This is a direct violation of the principles upon which this nation was founded.

  4. 4
    Patrick says:

    Surely George W. Bush has proved himself to be Antichrist. Bush fits the criteria of being a materialist world leader who prates about religion and morality while doing everything in his power to undermine both. He fits the Antichrist profile of being a father of lies. To any who argue that Bush isn’t smart enough to be Antichrist, remember this: intelligent behaviour is not part of Antichrist’s job description.

  5. 5
    Jay Silva says:

    Surely this site is the home for the most pompous writers I have ever seen. To subscribe to the idea that you all know the depth of thought that GWB gives to any subject is ludicrous. You project your own lack of insight on to those who think differently than you and obviously feel sooooo intelligent.

  6. 6
    Ron Chusid says:

    The depth, or in this case lack of depth of his thought, can be seen in Bush’s public statements and in the simplistic policy proposals he makes. This is not just the view of those who disagree with him. A growing number of intelligent conservatives are expressing this view.

  7. 7
    jimmy says:

    Jay Silva:

    It looks like you’re the one guilty of projecting their own ignorance. There is plenty of evidence of the lack of depth in George Bush’s thinking and this is fair game for a blog post. You know nothing about the so-called “pompous writers” here yet you make your ad hominem attacks. You are doing exactly what you falsely accuse Dr. Ron of.

    How does it feel to still worship a guy whose approval ratings have fallen to Jimmy Carter levels and are still fallilng?

  8. 8
    Ron Chusid says:

    Jimmy,

    It sure is strange that, after everything we’ve seen since 2001, there are still people who defend Bush.

    I just heard that George Bush is having a colonoscopy tomorrow. Maybe they’ll find his brain.

    To update the comment, this has led to a whole new post: In Search of Bush’s Brain

  9. 9
    Enlightened Christian says:

    What George Bush has done is done. The real problem for America and the rest of the World is what he knows is destined to happen, and the fact that neither he nor anyone else in authority is sharing the knowledge they have of what will happen to the Western World after 2025, when Christianity is displaced by Islam as the largest religion in the World.

    Pay a visit to http://www.enlightenedchristians.com and you will understand exactly what the implications for mankind are.

    Up until now Bush has refused to be bullied by insurgent and terrorist thugs, for which positive action, (albeit not strategically sound action), he is being ostracised by Americans. It is to be hoped that when George W Bush’s successor assumes office, he or she also takes positive action to delay the inevitable apocalypse at the hands of the nuclear powered antichrist.

    Afghanistan and Iraq may be in turmoil, but if George Bush hadn’t done what he did, America would be in turmoil, and there would have been numerous 9/11s on record by now.

  10. 10
    Ron Chusid says:

    “Up until now Bush has refused to be bullied by insurgent and terrorist thugs, for which positive action, (albeit not strategically sound action), he is being ostracised by Americans.’

    No, Bush has placed us at greater risk because of his lack of interest in really taking on terrorism and by the manner in which he has played politics instead.

    Bush ignored many pre 9/11 warnings which if paid attention to could have prevented the attack.

    He was right in going into Afghanistan, but he left before completing the job, allowing al Qaeda to survive and grow stronger.

    He played directly into bin Laden’s hands in attacking Iraq. Eliminating secular Arab governments was one of bin Laden’s goals, and Bush helped give al Qaeda a foot hold there. Plus, the war has been tremendous for recruitiment for al Qaeda.

    Bush hasn’t prevented either the first 9/11 when he could, and hasn’t prevented subsequent ones. He has made subsequent ones more likely. Al Qaeda works on a very slow time scale. They would not have been expected to try another 9/11 yet, instead spending years to make the next attack even worse. However, Bush has not taken the necessary actions to defend against future attacks. When John Kerry pushed Bush on taking action during the 2004 debates, Bush could only respond that Kerry’s recommendations were “too expensive.”

  11. 11
    Ronald Reagan says:

    George W. Bush is filth.

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