Bush and faith

There is an editorial about Bush now in the New York Times that is disturbing. This view of the president has always been in the back of my mind I think, as a possibility. I was raised in a very christian background, not entirely conservative, but so christian politics always took a back seat. I have met many many people in my life that act in the way that he is describing Bush might be acting. They know they’re right, they are not interested in discussion, and they are certainly not interested in analysis. They surround themselves with other people who agree with them, and seem sincerely surprised and saddened when faced with people that don’t. The sadness does not come from an even momentary doubt of their correctness though, just that you are so wrong.

I hope more people, on reading this, can come to understand how that mindset works, because I think a lot of people may have never been exposed to it. People that think that way are not often willing to talk to outsiders, or anyone who disagrees. It is a very real mind set though, and one that I think is dangerous to the world.

”Faith can cut in so many ways,” he [Jim Wallis] said. ”If you’re penitent and not triumphal, it can move us to repentance and accountability and help us reach for something higher than ourselves. That can be a powerful thing, a thing that moves us beyond politics as usual, like Martin Luther King did. But when it’s designed to certify our righteousness — that can be a dangerous thing. Then it pushes self-criticism aside. There’s no reflection.

”Where people often get lost is on this very point,” he said after a moment of thought. ”Real faith, you see, leads us to deeper reflection and not — not ever — to the thing we as humans so very much want.”

And what is that?

”Easy certainty.”