Don Miller's Take On George W. Bush

Donald Miller recently updated his website. He has a long dissertation on president bush. I'm pasting the article in here for your reading pleasure. There are definite things that I wish were done differently by the President. I've heard of other things he has done for the prison ministry which have been great so I just don't really know.

These days I'm on the side of wishing we did not go to war with Iraq since it seems never ending. Now, though, if we don't "win" in Iraq it's totally going to be a terrorist breeding ground and the war will actually have caused more casualties than prevented. That's a scary thought.

May 8th.
USA Today released a new poll today marking President Bush’ approval rating at 31%. If you are wondering, that’s pretty low. This means the only two communities in America that still support the President are the wealthy, and conservative evangelical Christians, two groups who are, quite nearly, binary opposites.

His falling approval ratings have caused me to question, once again, why it is the evangelical community admires this President. I’ve been wondering what the real reasons are, not the ones so commonly given, about him being a defender of freedom and all of this.

Here are a few suggested reasons, judge them for yourselves:

1. He is like them: President Bush is positioned as somebody who is "like" the modern evangelical. Bush speaks candidly and openly about a conversion experience and a personal relationship with Jesus. He’s a Methodist in practice and it is widely known he holds Bible studies and prayer meetings in the White House. These actions are considered discipleship initiatives by evangelicals in America. That said:
2. He is like them: The particular version of Christianity Bush subscribes to is heavily influenced by Americana, that is his spirituality is self-help, his social justice methodology is free-market (that is not entirely a criticism, by the way) and his theology is simple (good guys/bad guys, us vs. them, Jesus wears a cowboy had and fought at the Alamo, all captured in Mel Gibson’s movie about the life of Jesus entitled Bravehart)
3. He is like them: Bush takes stands; he thinks in black and white, he is not a flip flopper. He sees something wrong, and he does not seek to understand, he attacks. He has clearly defined enemies, both personally and patriotically. This gives the modern evangelical a clear association with someone good fighting someone bad, and so hijacks the "fans" ego through emotional gratification rather than reason. This personality trait of Bush’ is seen by many Christians as a virtue.
4. He is like them: Bush is not intimidating, either in stature, character or intellect. This trait makes people comfortable.5. He is like them: Bush stands against Gay Marriage and for unborn children. These two issues define Christian concern for legislative dealings. Bush is a champion of these issues, and wins the hearts of evangelicals in his stance.
And of course there are more, but this should get the discussion started. And while Bush is all these things, and they are mixed in my opinion in terms of being both good and bad (each idea is certainly debatable), he is also so much more, and the "more" is the part hidden from the evangelical populous who so blindly support him.

Here are some examples of how Bush is unlike the average evangelical.

1. He is not like them: He is dishonest: While Clinton is often seen as a liar by the evangelical community, at least he had the integrity to say "sexual relations" as opposed to "sex." What he said regarding Monica Lewinsky, then, was technically true (though no less misleading and dishonest and furthermore dishonorable.) It is President Bush who has no such conscious. I can only think he considers his lies justified by his American/Christian agenda. That is, he believes it is okay to use Satan’s tactics to build God’s kingdom. The specific lies are too numerous to mention, but see this short list: http://www.bushwatch.com/bushlies.htm
2. He is not like them: He is the product and defender of wealth. Unless you are a millionaire and have close ties to Saudi Arabia, you are not like George W. Bush. His agenda is a pro-oil, pro corporate agenda. Is this good for Christians? Not necessarily. Corporations have killed the American family, polluted the environment, enslaved children of second and third world countries, along with their parents, been discontent with their own boundaries in alignments with dictatorships and evil regimes, and distorted the American thought process into believing quick fix, unbiblical (read: unrealistic) solutions to problems (a bombardment of commercials has trained our minds to believe a small investment in a given product will solve a problem related to the product, even if the product is a piece of crap). So close are the ties between Bush and oil, the counsel for the defendants in the Enron trial of Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay favored jurors based upon, among other criteria, their pro Bush sentiments.
3. He is not like them: While evangelicals follow the Prince of Peace, Bush has shown little interest in peace. In a way, however, because there is only one peace studies program at any Christian University or college in all America (Anderson University, Messiah College also has a minor) Bush really is like the modern evangelical, but he is not like Jesus in this way. Bush’ idea of peace comes through policing and intimidating the world.
4. He is not like them: Bush’ black-and-white, simplified version of reality is hardly Biblical. The God of scripture describes a complex reality in which steadfast determination is not considered virtuous in a social climate always in flux. That is, the truth doesn’t change, but people are not perfect in their understanding of truth. Paul presents a message of Christ’s soon return, then later urges patience, saying God is not slow within His own experience of time. Peter, upon Paul’s argument about Gentiles, changes his mind to entertain a table with them. A Christian virtue seems to involve an understanding one will make mistakes, and a humility to change, adapt, learn and lead. Bush (along with nearly every other American president since the invention of radio) does not admit mistakes.

In the end, we have a President who represents and was produced by a corporate greed that barters for oil on foreign soil, defends trade relations with military action, retaliates against the reaction to that infringement with more military action (spinning the reality into simplified Hollywood plot-scenarios) and has robbed the church of it’s identity as the Kingdom of God.

But he does hold a Bible study in the White House. And he prays. Perhaps he should pray for his friends who are standing trial for pump-and-dump frauds that stole millions from their employees, and for his own Vice President who cusses like a sailor, gives his own former corporation multi-million dollar contracts without entertaining other bidders, and mistakes hunting buddies for small birds.

Now here is the point: Bush is not a bad man misleading and manipulating the church in America for a vote. He is actually, in part, a product of the church. Bush, as afore suggested, nurses upon two teats: corporate America, and Christian America. Ultimately, then, I’ve not given the true reason evangelicals favor Bush. The truth is evangelicals do not support Bush because he is like them; they support him because they created him.

As for Republican presidents, I miss Ronald Reagan. I don’t miss Reagan because he was perfect, he did lie about Iran Contra and played his part in creating the mess we are currently in, but I do miss him because he was nobody’s pawn. He negotiated the end of the cold war without picking up a gun, he believed in trickle-down economics but understood corporate greed, he had deep-seated beliefs about Democracy, about the beauty (not the perfection) of America, he did not enable members of his own administration, and had the guts to fire failures, he did not see Israel as a good-luck charm of which America could stroke for favor from God, and he liked the idea of God as a benevolent Father who provided for, disciplined and rebuked. He believed America was the shining city and chose for this country to act as a role model for the world. He was not an arrogant man. He was not a weak man. He was not a simple man. He was not a foolish man.

Before running for governor of Texas, bush lobbied Major League Baseball to become Commissioner of that association. He would have done a great job and been a role model to many in that position. But real life is not a game, and dead people are not points. And nobody, right now, is winning anything.
Things I did not say:
1. Republicans are bad
2. Bush is completely bad.
3. There is no benefit to individuals or the world from corporations.
4. Ronald Reagan was perfect.
5. Trickle-down economics is perfect.

Further reading? Consider "American Theocracy" by Republican strategist Kevin Phillips.

Things I believe Bush is doing right:

1. He is openly and boldly taking questions from the American people.
2. He is publicly asking America to invest intellectually and financially in alternative sources of energy.
3. He is praying.