Bush, GOD and my neighbor

[radfringe]

my neighbor is nice enough (for a fundy), yesterday she expressed some concern about the medicare legislation and how it would effect her parents

since she doesn't have a computer - I offered to print off various articles so she could read them, and then suggested that she tune into the senate debates on C-span II

I mentioned that backers of both the energy and medicare bills were big Bush contributors and this is an obvious "pay-back" by Bush to thank them for their support

She made a bit of a face - so I asked if she supported Bush. She said not really, but he is a God-fearing man.

so I asked if she believed that God talked to him and told him to screw the seniors, start illegal wars, and lie.

she didn't answer - so I quipped "just my opinion but the only GOD that Bush listens to is Gas Oil and Drug companies - so if you want to see your parents screwed - then vote for Bush"

no response, but she suddenly remembered she had something in the oven to check ....

[NJCher]

1. the black and white world of the fundies

...so I asked if she believed that God talked to him and told him to screw the seniors, start illegal wars, and lie.

Good one; LOL.

I always cringe when I hear that "God-fearing" stuff. What a simple little black and white world it is when God is to be feared.


Cher

[izzie]

8. Stealing is God like to these people but....

anything to do with sex is evil and sin. Interesting thinking but what can one do? My own feeling is that the country will go to the bottom of the pit before it will start to think of what is going on.We are now ready to get rid of the social programs put in by FDR and do re-call that every thing looked like the pits to the GOP at that time. It was like 180 the other way.I think the country is very half and half but once we have the poor farms, soup lines, homes back with the banks, etc. then people will start to see a society like ours must have a soicial interstructure to work.The day we have 10,000 running the country , like England, in the 1800 and 1900 will maybe get here but I do not think will last long.I keephoping we are at the bottom but maybe not. Let the women next door start giving up things for her mother for a few years.Funny how when you must start giving up money to our own parents taxes do not look so bad. It is easier to give a few 1000 to the govt than your time and all you can to family that needs it.

[rfranklin]

2. Rove was very clever when...

he got Bush, Jr. to become a 'god fearing" man. For believers, the image is irresistible. And when cognitive dissonance rears its ugly head, they just can't let got of their delusion.

[JNelson6563]

9. very old tactic

Machiavelli's manuscripts were floating around some 500 years ago with that exact strategy. Rove is a Machiavelli fan but falls just a bit short (becasue of his short-sightedness). Hence the perfect moniker Mayberry Machiavellis. haha I love that one.

Julie

[displacedtexan]

3. the inherent barrier in bush belief

echoes a child's universe: when you learn the truth about santa claus, you have to reconfigure your entire belief system.
it's far easier for a child to make such a drastic change than it is for your neighbor.

neo cons have convinced people like your neighbor that 'liberal' is no longer a synonym for 'generous.' altruism is suspect, as well.

[radfringe]

4. on a side note

My partner received a letter from the AARP yesterday - wanted her to join...

she ranted and raved for a few minutes, didn't even open the envelope and went to toss it in the garbage.

I said "wait a minute - let me check this out"

it was the usual bush*t crap on why you should join, but it did have a pre-paid return envelope

with my partners permission - I tore up the entire letter, membership card etc. into teeny-tiny pieces, and stuffed it into the pre-paid envelope. We dropped it in the mailbox.

[ozymandius]

5. Your rapier wit never fails to inspire me, Rad.

I also offer my compliments to the insightful rhetorical prose that gave your neighbor pause. "Screwing your parents..." - that's classic.

Alas, you know, some people will refuse to wash the taste of feces out of their mouths.

[snippy]

6. Bush's God is a truly fucked up God.

From an article about the Aqaba summit quoting then Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas:

According to Abbas, immediately thereafter Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I
struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=310788&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

In other words, Bush's God prefers Bush winning the election over peace in the Middle East.

[xchrom]

7. while i might enjoy the thought of cross over votes

from the religous right wing in 04{see even repukes have wedge issues} not for a minute do i believe that fundies want peace with the rest of the country.
they want it their way or no way. and while i believe they are used by corporate america{non-believers using the virtuous} i also believe the religous right uses corporate america.
see them for what they are -- they are not naive, or innocent. they do not wish liberals, gay folk, academics, and whole host of other folk well.

[ThomWV]

10. Wrong!!!!

Look, what you did was run off one potential Democratic vote next fall. Lighten up, be a little more respectful of the lady's beliefs. For Christ's sakes be gentil with them if you have to.

The point in all of this is to get them to switch sides, not be offended and further strenghtened in their resolve to be mindless followers of the moron from Texas.

Go back to that woman and appologize for your language, and then be very calm and just as patronizing as you have to be to sway this good woman to the reasonable argument. If you do it right she'll be asking for your opnion or for information from you again, not making up excuses to get as far away from you (and by proxy the Democratic party and their candidates) as possible as quickly as possible.

Thom

God Bless Robert Byrd

[Joe the Revelator]

11. i agree

the wanted result here would have been her asking you more, not trying to find excuses to take leave of you

[radfringe]

14. No what I gave her

was something to think about

her only reason for supporting Bush is that he is GOD-fearing

I didn't attack her religion or snort at it - plus she knows how I feel about Bush - my car has a multitude of bumper stickers on it, plus I was wearing this t-shirt


http://www.cafeshops.com/radicalfringe

so is she more concerned with bush being god-fearing or the fact that bush is screwing her parents? Meanwhile, what I forgot to add, is that her husband is on permanent disability and collects SSI, she doesn't work, they have 3 kids (oldest is 6)and they are on Medicaid
How long do you think it will be before Medicaid, SSI go the same way as medicare and the plans for social security?

Bush may be god-fearing, but that won't take care of their health insurance or put food on the table

[FlaGranny]

12. Fundamentalists,

because of their belief in being born again are easily swayed by anyone who claims to be born again. They just can't fathom that someone could lie about that. In my experience, they are easily suckered in by the claim, and if someone born again does something wrong, they still support the person because he is just a backslider, but still "saved."

[Solomon]

23. Hi FlaGranny!

:hi: The scariest thing to me is that a lot of fundies WANT the world to end. They WANT armaggedon because they believe they will be raptured, taken up by christ. They won't have to die and be buried like the rest of us if the end of the world would hurry up and get here. Deep down, even if they don't like Bush, they nonetheless think that God put him in the presidency so that he could start armaggedon. Very scary. But all too real.

[soupkitchen]

13. Bush's GOD: Gas, Oil and Drug Companies is priceless

Why haven't I heard this before? If it's original to you, get the posters and bumper stickers printed up. This should be the theme of the election.

[radfringe]

15. ;) working on a couple of ideas

meanwhile... you may be interested in my "shop"

The Radical Fringe | Powered by CafePress.com

[catmandu57]

21. I like Greed, oil, and drug

seems to fit better for me.

[zeemike]

16. My response to your neighbor

Would have been much different.
But then I have spent 20 or so years studying the bible and actually know what it says unlike most fundamentalists.
I would have asked her why she thinks Bush is a god-fearing man. And then I would show her the actual words of Jesus and challenged her to show how it conformed to bushes actions.
There are only 4 books of the bible that you need to know to shoot down any fundi, Mathew Mark, Luke and John and they all are an embarrassment to fundamentalist thinking.

[Skidmore]

17. Amen....n/t

[radfringe]

18. I believe

that people are going to believe whatever they want

to that end - I don't confront someone's religion unless they throw it in my face. Her comment about bush being god-fearing wasn't the kind of comment that I consider being thrown in my face

my basic take on religions is that they have 2 things in common:

1. they all believe in a higher power
2. they all believe they are right

beyond that it's up to interpretation and rhetoric

if she believes bush is god-fearing so be it - but don't let it be the sole reason for supporting or not supporting him.

with Bush - watch what he does not what he says

[zeemike]

20. “with Bush - watch what he does not what he says”

I know of at least 5 or 6 quotes from the words of Jesus himself that support that statement.
So what has happened here is that the repugs have hijacked Christianity and use it as a weapon against liberalism and the teachings and philosophy of Jesus. And they get by with it because the fundies have spewed many hate filled lies abut the bible, god and Jesus for so long that the liberals just reject it out of hand with out even reading it for themselves and finding out what is really said.
No one seems to know now that the teachings of Jesus are one of the greatest liberal philosophies ever written. And this great secret is kept by those that would render the bible unreadable with dogma and the confusion of quotes lifted out of context.

[TankLV]

25. I've also been wondering for a long time now...

Why is it tha so-called "christian" fundies are constantly spewing OLD Testament scripture instead of NEW Testament scripture to support their prejudices? Shouldn't they be relying on NEW Testament for their arguments, since Christ, in the NEW Testament, either contradicted or at least reinterpreted the OLD Testament?

I might not be saying this exactly right, but hope you get my meaning.

[theHandpuppet]

19. If Bush Is A God-Fearing Man...

...then he ought to be scared witless by now, considering how many of God's Ten Commandments he brazenly violates on a daily basis in order to justify his wars for oil and greed, such as:

THOU SHALT NOT KILL
and...
THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR
not to mention...
THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S GOODS.

But then, I'm sure such God-fearing Christians as those who would call Bush a "God-fearing man" are more concerned with savaging gay people than cleaning up their own house. Isn't selective Christianity fun?

[camero]

22. And this one.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Money is Bush's God.

[leesa]

24. Good job, radfringe! What the hell kind of god do these people

believe in anyway that Bush is perceived as a good christian???

[Scott Lee]

26. But don't you know that killing, stealing and lying is OK when....

it's against the "enemies of the faith"?

I believe that's an old Inquisition era belief.