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Ganesh: Well, not exactly. It's not so much that "his faith seems to mould itself around his political ambition" as that they are one and the same: what Bush wants will always jibe with what God wants—the inevitable result of the nature of Bush's God-concept, which comes directly from his brand of Christianity.
W is a born-again Christian, and the born-again movement places primary emphasis on the personal relationship with Christ—as opposed to, say, the Catholic Church, with its emphasis on Jesus as Universal Savior: the evangelical born-again Christian says, "I accept Jesus as my personal Savior," while I, as a Catholic, call Jesus my Savior because He is Savior of all mankind, and I am part of mankind—which means He is my Savior whether I "accept" Him or not. The fact of individual salvation doesn't change, of course, but the route by which you come to it gives you a very different slant on the world and on Jesus.
The personal nature of salvation extends to the theology of the churches: whereas the rigid catechism of the Catholic Church grows out of its hierarchical nature—which in turn grows out of its collectivist notion of salvation, the idea that we're all in this together so we'd darn well better get organized—evangelical theology, by contrast, tends to be far more vague and open to interpretation: denominations such as W's United Methodists are essentially umbrella groups, within which can exist a host of highly idiosyncratic theologies—as many, perhaps, as there are individual Christians in that denomination: after all, if Jesus is your personal Savior, then you are, in effect, a Church of one.
Michelle Cottle wrote an excellent piece on W's faith for The New Republic, and I cannot resist quoting it at length (emphasis mine):
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...W.'s relationship with Jesus has always been of the twelve-step, baby-boomerish variety so popular in recent years. The president's path to salvation began in the mid-1980s, when his chum Don Evans got him involved in a Bible-study group characteristic of the "small-group movement," ... a "mix of self-help, self-discipline, group therapy ... and worship." Bush thus came to know Jesus as someone who helps you achieve even the really tough things you want to get done: stop being a drunk, grow up, become president, etc. Basically, Jesus became Bush's life coach--a sort of divine Tony Robbins.
....Lots of political leaders make decisions and pronouncements based broadly on what they believe is God's will. But Bush's brand of born-again Christianity isn't rooted in the kind of theological study or debate that might produce a coherent worldview. Instead, it follows directly from the believer's one-on-one communion with God. At best this gives the prescriptions Bush gleans from his faith an ad hoc quality.... At worst, this becomes completely self-justifying, placing a divine stamp of approval on pretty much anything the believer wants to do--or rather, wants God to help him do. ...Bush decided Saddam was evil, and everything just flowed from that.
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Read the whole piece: it's fascinating, unsettling, and, though deeply reverent, still wonderfully impolite. |
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