Thursday, May 04, 2006

Phase 1 of responses to "The death of Satan"

This is the balance of thoughts received thus far which merited publication as articles on their own rather than as merely comments to the piece published by Jesse a few hours ago. Other comments will be published as they are received and considered. - Z.M, Guest Editor.

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Jesse, I would have to disagree about George Bush. I will not dispute that his foreign policy, except for the commitment to a large block of money to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, is objectionable. However, domestically it appears to me that his Christianity has made a great difference in his decision making. He stands firmly against abortion, he has attempted to put into place stringent guidelines regarding embryonic stem cell research based on that conviction, he is pushing abstinence as a solution to HIV prevention, he has opened up immigration in the U.S., especially with regards to persons already living in the country illegally (though admittedly not Arab ones) more than any president in recent memory. Now, one can argue that he is not correct on some of his positions, but that his Christianity has impacted his domestic policy in a noticeable way is not arguable. Nor, may I point out, would most of his opponents in the U.S. make that argument. They would assert that he is wrong--possibly because of his faith--but not that his faith has not impacted his stands on issues. I do some research in the area of HIV/AIDS, and I can assure you that persons involved in that field do not think George W. Bush's faith has not made a difference--they think it has made a very strong, negative difference (I happen to be very appreciative of his stance on abstinence, though I'm less convinced that his administration's position downgrading the importance of the media in fighting HIV/AIDS is useful. But then again I would not think that position springs from faith convictions). That is the main reason why, despite the fact that it is clearly in the descendency, many persons on the opposite side of the political spectrum are excruciatingly vocal in expressing their fears that the conservative Christian ideology is taking over American politics. - A.M, American living in Kenya.
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It's alright with you barbing at Bush; you were quoting.
Incidentally, I doubt very much that he would have made even the efforts he has to deal with things like AIDS in Africa, genocide in Sudan or (certainly) an attempt, however faltering, to bring about democracy in the Middle East without his Christian faith. That being said, there are many politicians of the type you describe here.
A good piece of advice on this matter is to compare the political action of Chuck Colson with that of Jerry Fallwell. Colson writes the Breakpoint web column, which always makes for good daily reading. I recommend it to anyone. - A.J, Pennsylvania, USA.

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