Posted 5:24 PM by Blah blah

Bush's Religious Dogmatism (Politics)

DOGMATISM: "Arrogant, stubborn assertion of opinion or belief."

Isn't that how Bush speaks in every major speech, including his recent U.N. one?

The tagboard on the left is too small for me to answer Soo. Soo said:

"I'm not sure how compelling an argument you can make that [Bush] is following the voice of God...but let's say he is. It seems to me he's following not just God's voice, but others as well: economic advisers, military planners, civilian leadership, etc. I don't think he's foreclosed from following his religious convictions among his other beliefs; I'm not sure how that violates the separation of church and state.

By the way, it should also be noted several European countries have Christian-based political parties that are, not only active, but in power as well. Germany, Denmark, and even France have strong Christian-based political parties. Even Europe is not as secular as you might think."

First, I said Bush is acting as if he IS the voice of God. Despite the efforts of people like Colin Powell to be a voice of moderation, Bush has consistently favored Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and the rest of the hawks in his belligerent speeches and policies. He acts as if he rules by divine right, forgetting about democracy and the millions of Americans angry at how much his spending spree in Iraq has cost our economy.

Soo, I wrote about Bush's use of religion to influence his political policies here:

"Bush puts God on his side" and
"The battle for American science," which talks about how creationism is making some comeback in biology classes.

As the second article says: "US scientists say they are indicative of a new climate that has emerged under the Bush administration: one driven partly by close relationships with big business, but just as much by a fiercely moral approach to the business of science."

Many have written about Bush's increasing use of religious language in his policy speeches, his talk of good vs. evil. Yes, they have the Christian Democrats in Germany, but how much of the population is actively religious or willing to let religion into policy discussions? I have no problem with being religious, but I DO expect politicians to listen to ALL views and look at the evidence before deciding on votes.

If they are dogmatically following the Bible, they are not flexible enough to really represent the people or make pragmatic policy. The Republicans rule now by ideology. The Democrats under Clinton ruled by practicality and realism.

As Clinton said recently in his great speech at the Harkin Iowa steak fry, the Democrats are actually willing to admit they are WRONG once in a while!