Compassionate Christian President?
The United States of America is at a political crossroad met seldom in one’s lifetime. Upon the coming presidential elections will depend the fate not just of our country, but of the world. Of this I am certain. The two mainstream candidates present distinct ideologies.
For purposes of expediency, I will only comment on our present leader in the White House. One whose rule is built on power and fear. Motivated by greed and cloaked in secrecy. Evincing an archaic philosophy marked by imperious disdain for the rules of law and the sanctity of human life. All the while proclaiming divine Providence in justification of their actions, although justification is not exactly the right word, for that would imply recognition of a need to justify their deeds. This administration is unabashed when questioned regarding any action, inaction, misdeed, or even criminal act committed on their watch.
Mr. Bush calls himself Christian, compassionate, conservative. His actions belie those labels. In truth, he behaves neither as a Christian, compassionate, nor truly conservative.
True Christian compassion involves extending a helping hand to the least of us. By lifting up those at the bottom, we raise the standard of all society. This has not occurred on his watch. More of our citizens suffer in poverty now than four years ago. Our seniors have Medicaid and Medicare, which entitlements obtain merely by reaching a certain age. Why should the sons and daughters of our poor suffer from a lack of health care purely based on economics? Our youth are our future and deserve our attention if truly are looking to that future. As Jesus said in Matthew 25, “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
True Christian compassion does not lead to the increased execution of your own citizens. Mr. Bush’s Attorney General goes the extra mile in his efforts to override local prosecutors when he feels the death penalty is appropriate in a case, irrespective of the fact that the prosecutors recommend otherwise http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0207-03.htm.
True Christian compassion does not leap to release the dogs of war and revel in the deaths of our enemies. An honorable, American president does not start a war based on the flimsiest of evidence. An honorable, American president views war as the last unreasonable alternative, for war is the absolute ultimate failure of policy and diplomacy. It does not seek ever more efficient killing machines. Our current leader has re-instituted the development of new nuclear weapons, abrogating our thirty-four years of membership in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2780521.stm
True Christian compassion honors and respects life. This administration flouts the Geneva Convention, invoking spurious rationale for the mistreatment, unlawful detainment, torture, and killing of prisoners, both in the US and abroad. An honorable, American president does not condone the practice of holding a prisoner without access to counsel or visitation. An honorable, American president does not allow his subordinates to deny the Red Cross access to prisoners. An honorable, American president does not allow prisoners to be held without even informing said prisoner of the charges under which (s) he is held. This is something to be expected of a third world dictator, not of an American leader.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1127639,00.html
An honorable, American president is tolerant to dissent in the arena of democratic, public discourse. Mr. Bush labels it unpatriotic and divisive.
An honorable, American president does not repeat ad nauseam the “Big Lie” of 9/11, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and Saddam Hussein as the case for an elective war. Here is how the Big Lie works. It is simply a matter of conditioned response. I f you repeat something enough times, it does not make any difference if there are logical connections. The mere utterance of weapons of mass destruction now brings to mind Saddam Hussein, 9/11, and terrorism. Whether you agree with the argument or not, that is what is present in your subconscious mind. The current republican leadership counts on people not taking the time to actually think for themselves. With a bit of quick research, any intelligent person could find enough evidence to call into question the motivation for and evidence being relied upon to make a case for war, let alone continuing along the path being followed. Make no mistake about it, this was a war of choice, not necessity. When presented with evidence all to the contrary, the honorable man admits his mistakes and then takes steps to rectify them. We have yet to see this type of integrity from our sitting commander-in-chief.
“In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table,” Bush said. “But make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win.”
The evidence for this victory? The 2003 edition of “Patterns of Global Terrorism”, released by the US Department of State on April 29, 2004. Front page news. Problem is, on June 22, 2004, a revised report detailing the real story was released by the State Department. In it the numbers show that in actuality, the number of worldwide terrorist attacks increased by just under ten percent for the year, and casualties increased by over two hundred and twenty-five percent!! Just another example of evidence being “massaged” by the Bush administration.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5865710/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/10/powell.terror.report/
http://globalsecurity.org/security/library/report/2004/pgt_2003/
The truth is, this man makes me embarrassed for the United States. The country I know and love has been subverted to an agenda of Christian dogma, misdirection, hateful rhetoric and intolerance. President Bush is NOT a uniter, he is an excluder. NOT compassionate, but impassionate to those in real need. The face put forth by the Republicans at their recent convention was a mask. The only time we got a peek behind that mask was during Democratic Senator Zell Miller’s speech. Whether knowingly or not, he was showing the true attack dog, irrational, spittle flecked face of our ruling party. This is the face of a party unfamiliar with the concept of compromise and bipartisan interest. A party which treats those in disagreement with contempt. The best interests of our great nation are not served while President Bush is in office. He has not focused any energy on being a member of the world community, but has sent a message to the world during his tenure, one of self-centered self-importance. The result can only be on of further isolation and estrangement of America from the other 95% of earth’s population. This week the President gave us a warm and fuzzy speech full of programs to help those in need over the next four years. That left me wondering. Where was he the last four years? What happened to the compassionate platform he proposed in the year 2000?
Since his inauguration, the president and his staff have taken advantage of tragedy to create a bastard son of the United States which I grew up to know and love. My United States stood for right, not might. My United States had a conscience. My United States was founded in integrity, honor and respect. My United States didn’t need to hide prisoners and obstruct inquiries into its actions. My United States is confident that, in the light of day, their actions may withstand the most detailed scrutiny from all sides.
An idealist, I admit. But is it too much to expect our leaders possess those qualities admired by all? When our president leads by fostering a climate of fear and retribution, it can only serve to bring out those very qualities in our people. Only by being strong enough not to fall prey to the baser instincts of man can our leaders hope to lead us to a better world. In this respect, President Bush is an abject failure and has earned a place on the sidelines in America’s future.
The Compassionate Christian President? by SharedThought, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.