Bush denies God told him to do it
Bush denies God told him to do it
#0Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 11:37am
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House has denied that US President George W. Bush said God told him to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, as a new BBC documentary is expected to reveal.
"That's absurd. He's never made such comments," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday.
The documentary series set to be broadcast later this month in Britain claims Bush made the claim when he met Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and then-foreign minister Nabil Shaath in June 2003.
He also told them he had been ordered by God to create a Palestinian state, the ministers said.
Shaath, now the Palestinian information minister, said: " President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God'".
"'God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan'.
"'And I did. And then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... ' And I did.
"'And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And by God I'm gonna do it'," said Shaath.
Abbas, who was also at the meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, recalled how the president told him: "'I have a moral and religious obligation'".
"'So I will get you a Palestinian state.'"
The three-part series, "Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs", charts the attempts to bring peace to the Middle East, from former US president Bill Clinton's talks in 1999-2000 to Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza strip.
The series is due to begin airing Monday.
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
#1re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 11:39amflip....flop...and with JC no less!
WOSQ
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
#2re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 11:46am
Let us examine this seriously and with the gravity it needs.
God did not tell GWBush to do these things. Everyone knows his mother tells him what to do.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
#3re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 11:51am
why do I keep thining of that old Flip Wilson line.....
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
WOSQ
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
#5re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 1:07pm...six of one...
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
#6re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 1:21pmNo, six of one is Karl...oh! I thought you meant 601!
#7re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 2:44pmOK now this is scaring me. (and it takes a lot to scare this mom!)
"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Conan O'Brien
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#8re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 3:07pm
Okay.
Now I want to pick up my lap top and beat it on the end table.
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#9re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 3:43pmoh geez.
Honey, I don't produce theater. I am theater.
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#10re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 4:36pm
*squints* I'm trying to make this look better somehow- maybe he just meant it figuratively? You know, like his religion helps define his moral views, so when he feels he has a "moral and religious obligation" to broker peace in the Middle East, he feels it all goes back to God. Or something.
Okay, you know what? People put all kinds of things down to divine inspiration. Some of them end up being Tomas de Torquemada, and others end up being Mother Theresa. I'm a results-oriented gal. If Bush has finally decided to get over his stupid hands-off policy in Israel and actually push the two parties to talk to each other, I don't care if his dog told him to do it.
#11re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/7/05 at 10:51pm
Way to use perspective, Plum! (I don't mean that sarcastically)
Even if "God" told Bush to go to war.... since when should he use a religion to solve a political problem?
-Was that a fart?
-My fault, I fear.
Updated On: 10/7/05 at 10:51 PM
-My fault, I fear.
iflitifloat
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/03
#13re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/8/05 at 8:20amThe explanation might be simplistic. I think it's possible that W thought he was "talking their talk" by invoking the "god told me to" rhetoric. It's pretty well-documented that his understanding of other cultures is pretty superficial. Which is also pretty terrifying.
Sueleen Gay: "Here you go, Bitch, now go make some fukcing lemonade." 10/28/10
#14re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/8/05 at 10:12am
What I meant was, it doesn't seem too sane for someone to say his lord is talking to him. But, in the "Plum" point of view, I can see why he was saying "god told him to do it" as a way to say that his religion tells him to do it. So, yes, religion can influence people's descisions. I mispoke.
Man, this is a sticky topic to debate about... religion and politics combined...
-Was that a fart?
-My fault, I fear.
Updated On: 10/8/05 at 10:12 AM
-My fault, I fear.
#15re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/8/05 at 11:26am
Plum, Dear.....if you are the leader of the free world, you'd better damn not say 'God told me to do it".........An elected official must bow to the will of the people when making decisions.........NOT what he believes in. God didn't elect him, the people (barely) did. he has NO right to say that.
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
Updated On: 10/8/05 at 11:26 AM
#16re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/8/05 at 11:28amWay to go, Elphaba!
-Was that a fart?
-My fault, I fear.
-My fault, I fear.
eyeonbroadway
Broadway Star Joined: 6/11/04
#18re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/8/05 at 1:22pmIt will be interesting to see how this story plays out. Many people with a fundamentalist religious slant make reference to how God answers prayers and helps guide their decisions. I'm ok with that; I get uncomfortable when that becomes "God told me to do this"...There's a big difference.
#19re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/8/05 at 2:03pm
The core issue is where do your primary loyalties lie when elected to any position: To the obligations you are sworn to uphold, and to your constiuents, or, to the church, temple or mosque you belong too.
Plum is right, religion in one shape or another will influence people's decision. But the issue is, whether or not religion dictates your actions. For example, your religious beliefs may hold that abortion is a sin. That does not, however, necessarily mean as a judge you will use those values to determine cases. In theory at least, your personal religious views should be just that, personal, and not dictate issues like right to privacy, whether or not abortion is legal, or, whether or not a pre-emptive war is just.
So long as you continue to respect the separation of church and state, you can be as devout as you want. The problem I have with this administration does not respect the separation, and has instead, actively worked to use government to expand and expound their own religious agenda. These are the elements of a theocracy, not a democracy.
eyeonbroadway
Broadway Star Joined: 6/11/04
#20re: Bush denies God told him to do it
Posted: 10/8/05 at 2:36pm
My social and religious perspectives are very liberal so it's easy for me to separate church and state and affirm the stand that religion has no place in government. I would be blind, though, not to recognize that many people less liberal than I, consider their faith to be as much a part of them as their right hand. It is integral to how they see themselves, how they see the world, and make decisions. It is the source of their perceptions of right and wrong and they feel perfectly justified in saying "this is what I stand for". That solid resolve can be very admirable when they are right and so very dangerous when they are wrong...
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