Quote:
BTW, did you read the Christian response on the 'bushforkerry' site, and if so, what was your reaction to that?
I hadn't, but I just did. I suppose the easiest thing to do is respond point by point. But before I do, please remember I’m not a huge Bush fan. I just think he’s the better of two poor choices.

Now, from the web page:
Quote:
I'm voting for John Kerry because I'm a Christian. I know that my second cousin, George Bush, claims that he is the anointed leader of the American people and that God told him to run for office. I believe he may even believe that. I don't.
While it is true Bush claims this, the context also should be understood. Most Christians I know believe EVERYTHING they do is at God’s behest and with His approval, right down to going to the store to buy bread. Now certainly a wrong choice, like cutting someone off in traffic, is not what God asked for, but a Christian who is making a positive decision he or she thinks is the right one believes that this is something that God wants. Sometimes they find out later they were wrong, but that doesn’t negate the original feeling that “God ordained it.” In Bush’s case, certainly if he’s running for the highest office in the land he’s only doing it if he believes it’s what God wants him to do. The language he’s used (that I’ve heard) is entirely consistent with this, and many Christians I know would not interpret the things Bush has said the way this person has, nor do I believe Bush meant it the way she is taking it. However, I do understand the reaction.

Quote:
My Christian faith leads me to a concern for the poor and the marginalized, yet Bush's actions in office have repeatedly cut funding for health care, aid to failing schools, jobs programs . . .
I understand this completely, and I think it’s a tough call what the government’s responsibility is toward the poor and marginalized. I think that it’s a bad idea for the government to be heavily involved and that caring for the poor and marginalized should be a personal responsibility, but that’s easy to say in my comfortable house typing away on one of my many computers. Reasoning it all out logically, I know the government can’t be responsible for everything, otherwise we’ll have communism which always breaks down into corruption. So the only real question is where to draw the line. I draw it further toward personal responsibility than this lady does, but I realize I might be wrong. In the end, though, it’s not a question of Christian belief, it’s a question of what economics best meet that belief. She and I want the same things, but we disagree about how to get there.

Quote:
My Christian faith tells me the peacemakers are the blessed ones, yet George Bush wants to resurrect the Crusades . . .
I think this is over-the-top and just plain wrong. There may be lots of allegations about why Bush went into Iraq (she seems to think it’s about oil), but only the worst conspiracy theories compete with the horror of the crusades.

Quote:
[Jesus] was talking about liberating his OWN people from within, not invading an oil-rich country out of purely selfish motives, then claiming it was for the liberation of others.
If she’s right about his motives, well then she’s right. But I don’t think so. I truly think he believed (as did most of the nation, Congress, and Kerry) that attacking Iraq was the best way to ensure long term peace.

Quote:
My Christian faith moves toward greater inclusiveness and acceptance, George Bush moves toward punishment, division, and exclusion.
This is just a general statement, and could be attributed to a lot of things so it’s hard to argue. In any case, it’s oversimplified from my perspective. Jesus was exclusive toward some people (the Pharisees, for example), but he was certainly inclusive toward those who wanted to follow Him.

Quote:
My Christian faith seeks to bring people into the circle of decision-making, George Bush seeks to keep them out. My Christian faith seeks to afford equal rights and responsibilities to all, George Bush seeks to reserve more rights for the privileged few.
Once again, very general statements that I can’t really respond to. I don’t know who she believes is the “privileged few”. If it’s that those who have the most money get to spend the most money, I don’t see that as being un-Christian (I don’t see it as being Christian either- just economics).

Quote:
My Christian faith is not looking for a new Messiah named George Bush.
Once again, she’s pushing Bush’s words pretty far. He never claimed this; rather I think he’d be ashamed to even think it.

In the end, I think that though she and I may both be Christians, we are coming from very different places. Some of it (the economics) is religiously neutral and we just happened to differ. In other places, we seem to differ in our interpretations of events or how much benefit of the doubt we give Bush. Finally, there are also some clear theological differences that yield different worldviews.

Whew! Sid that answer your question!
_________________________
-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.