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Christianists, Bush, Rove, and the politics of Good and Evil

Submitted by Ken Watts on Fri, 07/13/2007 - 15:16

Andrew Sullivan posts a quote from the fundamentalists who disrupted congress yesterday here. He calls their display "raw bigotry", which is true, and verifies what I said yesterday about it not being representative of Christians in general.

He also calls them "members of Carl Rove's base", which is very telling, since there is a direct connection between this administration's complete disregard for truth or law, the behavior this group exhibited yesterday, and the theology of the religious right.

Both stem from a world viewed as a battle between Good and Evil, a view that is supported neither by reality or a clear understanding of the scriptures Bush and his base accept.

Bush believes that God has put him in place to fight that battle, and as long as he believes that we are all at risk, because the corollary is that he can do no wrong. He can commit any atrocity, tell any lie, ignore any law, and it is justified because he is the chosen instrument of God and because any means is appropriate when one is fighting Evil (with a capital E).

This way of thinking is rooted deeply in the king model of morality and authority, which is the model shared by fundamentalist Islam and fundamentalist Christianity, and which is antithetical to democracy.

The difference between thinking that it's okay to deny others the right to their own religious activity or that it's okay to kill others for not agreeing with you or that it's okay to kill others because you've decided their leader is Evil, is just a matter of degree.

Does that make Bush and his base Evil?

No.

But it does make them very dangerous.


Additional thought on 10/07/2008: The current Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin, has exhibited an even greater affinity with this dangerous worldview than George Bush. Considering the age, and history of recurring cancer, which McCain has tried to hide by refusing to release his medical records, Palin's worldview would be a serious danger to the United States, should McCain be elected.