"A Relationship With the Lord"

Mr. Bush said he leans heavily on his religion every day that he is in the Oval Office and cannot imagine any man handling the pressures of the job without leaning on God.
It seems that he did a good job explaining himself, if you had taken the time to read. Simply put, he is not strong enough, without God's support, to handle this position of responsibility and he wonders how any man could be. Humility before God - an admirable quality...
 
NYBamaFan said:
It seems that he did a good job explaining himself, if you had taken the time to read. Simply put, he is not strong enough, without God's support, to handle this position of responsibility and he wonders how any man could be. Humility before God - an admirable quality...


Exactly.
 
ValuJet said:
So what's the problem?

Here's the full quote:

"I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit. That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban. The greatest freedom we have or one of the greatest freedoms is the right to worship the way you see fit. On the other hand, I don't see how you can be president at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a relationship with the Lord."

My concern is that our current president's view of the office disenfranchises Jews, among others, who do not have a relationship with "the Lord". Can a Jew be president? Not by these standards. If, on the other, Bush is talking about HIMSELF only, then fine. But that's not how I read the quote.
 
T&T said:
My concern is that our current president's view of the office disenfranchises Jews, among others, who do not have a relationship with "the Lord". Can a Jew be president? Not by these standards. If, on the other, Bush is talking about HIMSELF only, then fine. But that's not how I read the quote.
Come on, silly. Did you ever go to church? He is speaking in a way that anyone that ever spent any time in church would understand. He is saying that the strength of his faith helps him through the tough times. He is saying that, when he is weak, God's strength keeps him going. He is saying that, without God, he would not be strong enough for the job. He is also saying that he is amazed that any man without such a strength to lean on would have a hard time in the position of President of the United States.

You scream that he is arrogant and when he shows humility, you see bigotry. Unbelievable...
 
Tide and True said:
My concern is that our current president's view of the office disenfranchises Jews, among others, who do not have a relationship with "the Lord". Can a Jew be president? Not by these standards. If, on the other, Bush is talking about HIMSELF only, then fine. But that's not how I read the quote.
I thought Jews worshipped the Lord as well? Just not Jesus Christ and the New Testament. Muslims do as well but they call him Allah and worship the profit Mohammed and use the Quran as their holy book.

Oh, and how is there disenfranchisement when Joe Lieberman ran for President? And shouldn't disenfranchisement only be related to voting? And the personal comments of the President does not equal law. There is no law restricting the religion of the President of the United States.
 
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NYBamaFan said:
He is saying that the strength of his faith helps him through the tough times. He is saying that, when he is weak, God's strength keeps him going. He is saying that, without God, he would not be strong enough for the job.

If that's what I thought he were saying, I wouldn't have posted this thread.

NYBamaFan said:
He is also saying that he is amazed that any man without such a strength to lean on would have a hard time in the position of President of the United States.

It's hard for me to read Bush's quote this way. Notice that Bush is explicitly qualifying his defense of religious freedom -- or the freedom to have no religion at all -- by saying that the presidency, in his view, should be reserved for people with a relationship with "the Lord." He isn't simply saying that he doesn't see how he could have endured the presidency without faith; he is asserting that he cannot see how anyone could be president without a personal "relationship with the Lord." Now I can see how this might be simply a slip of the tongue -- i.e. a projection of his own experience with nothing more to be inferred from it. But given how this administration has consciously eroded thee to read Bush's quote this way. Notice that Bush is explicitly qualifying his defense of religious freedom -- or the freedom to have no religion at all -- by saying that the presidency, in his view, should be reserved for people with a relationship with "the Lord." He isn't simply saying that he doesn't see how he could have endured the presidency without faith; he is asserting that he cannot see how anyone could be president without a personal "relationship with the Lord." Now I can see how this might be simply a slip of the tongue -- i.e. a projection of his own experience with nothing more to be inferred from it. But given how this administration has consciously eroded the distinction between church and state -- fusing the two with federal funds, using religious groups as its political base, incorporating religious leaders into policy-making, and defending public policy decisions on purely religious grounds (calling civil marriage licenses "sacred," for example) -- this is worrying.
 
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Tide and True said:
Doesn't "the Lord" specifically mean "Jesus" to Christians?
Ahhh, that's right. That's what I get for doing too many things at once.

Well, the second paragraph of my post is still valid then. :D
 
T&T,

I think that you are reading way too much into the exact text of GWB's statement. You know very well that he is a poor communicator. Try and accept the message that he was trying to send instead of focusing on the exact text of his message.
 
NYBamaFan said:
T&T,

I think that you are reading way too much into the exact text of GWB's statement. You know very well that he is a poor communicator. Try and accept the message that he was trying to send instead of focusing on the exact text of his message.

Fair enough.
 
Bush is just pandering again. Trying to look good to his base by talking about how much he says loves Jesus, while he uses the treasury as his personal ATM.

Someone once said patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Seems to me, religion is the first.

Which still doesn't mean it's ok for you to go around acting like we're all the same. You probably wouldn't want us judging all the gays by what we see going on in those wacko pride parades in San Francisco. Is it any better to judge all Christians by the ones who make spectacles of themselves? Think it over.
 
Tide and True said:
Someone interpret this statement of Bush's for me, paying particular attention to the final word:



http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050111-101004-3771r.htm

Is he saying that you have to be Christian to be president? That's not really what conservatives believe, is it?

He clearly states that it is from
"..from my perspective.."

Where's the issue? He certainly has a right to have his own perspective on things. Everyone wants to be a Michael Moore these days, and their collective idiocracy shines like a beacon over the cesspool of their thoughts.
 
I am coming to the conclusion it is a waste of time Wist. Too many think they are too clever for God. They feel they rise above the fray when they mock people of faith. The road is indeed wide they may be on. In the end following pop culture at worst conventional wisdom at best may be their demise.
 
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