God's Work

Jarod said:
Im not really offended by what Obama said, I simply think as a policy it would be better for presidents to not to use the term.
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Why? What's wrong with a President expressing his personal religious views as long as he is not making a policy statement?
 
"Politicians of faith" includes pretty much every person to hold national office ever. I think you can count on one hand (maybe no hands) the total number of Presidents, Senators and House members that are atheist or agnostic.
 
Superfreak said:
Vs. the government intrusion into health care?



Except that is not what he is doing. The underserved are not being served by this mess. People are getting kicked off plans. Small businesses and their employees are seeing increasing premiums thanks to this plan. He is going to end up putting more people off of their health care plans than he is putting on his precious Obama care nightmare.
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Lol, hello Polly!
 
Jarod said:
The other end of the Spectrum is Pat Robertson claiming, while he was running for President, that a hurricane missing his headquarters was proof that God endorsed him.
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While I think that they are two very different situations where on is using an innocuous saying and one is demonstrating plain stupidity, I will say that I view Mr. Obama and Pat Robertson as two very different individuals. While I do not agree with President Obama often, I view him as a man who is sincere and a man to respect. While I agree with Mr. Robertson more than I do with Mr. Obama, I view Pat Robertson as a man who puts his foot in his mouth often...and maybe should keep it there.
 
Superfreak said:
I honestly don't have a problem with his saying it. As Lorax and Leaning stated, many politicians of faith do so. I just think it funny how accepting the left is when it is a Democrat invoking God vs. a Republican doing so.
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I never had a problem with Bush's public statements on religion. They were often pretty humerous at his press conferences, though I'm sure that wasn't intended. I did have a problem when he made references to God in his Iraq policy that distincly smaked of meglomania. I also criticized him for attempting to blurr the seperation cluase when he wanted to give official government sanction and resources to religious charitable and relief organizations. As for his personal public statements, never had a problem with those.
 
Sardonic said:
It is a bit different, Obama did not hear The Almighty telling him to reform healthcare.

We mocked Bush for having felt God told him to go to war.
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I agree there. That was one of only two instances where I was critical towards religion and public policy during the Bush administration.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
I don't agree. The founding fathers intent on Seperation of Church and State was to not provide sanctioned government powers to any religious institution or religious point of view. It was not intended to exclude religion from the public sphere, in fact quite the opposite is true. The founding fathers wanted religion to prosper in the public sphere and they were remarkably succesful. The US has one of the highest Church attendtence rates in the industrialized world and we have one of the largest diversities of religions of any nation.

The founding fathers primary concern with religion and government was the corrupting influence one has upon the other and vice versa. Thus they wanted no official government sanction for any religion or religious institution but gave them otherwise a freehand in our public life. We very much need religion in our public life, we just don't need it in our government or the official public policy of our government. In fact look at the history of totalitarian States like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Empire. One of the first things they did was to strictly limit Religions public role or got rid of it all together.
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A lot of things have changed since the Founders. There is a hidden political test in this country, there are no open atheist, agnostics, pagans or Satanist who are electable.

I think the further we move away from talking about God in politics the better we will be, the more diversified our candidates will become.

I am not trying to limit religion, I just don't think the mention of God is necessary to anything political. We do not need a god to be a moral nation.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
I never had a problem with Bush's public statements on religion. They were often pretty humerous at his press conferences, though I'm sure that wasn't intended. I did have a problem when he made references to God in his Iraq policy that distincly smaked of meglomania. I also criticized him for attempting to blurr the seperation cluase when he wanted to give official government sanction and resources to religious charitable and relief organizations. As for his personal public statements, never had a problem with those.
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More strawman crap....and not even similar to this issue...

Mott the Hoople said:
Why? What's wrong with a President expressing his personal religious views as long as he is not making a policy statement?
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The president tells Organizing for Action volunteers their effort to enroll people in Obamacare is "God's work" Tuesday at an event in D.C.

Enrolling people in his signature legislation is a statement on policy....thats undeniable.
 
Sardonic said:
You never do because we have had this conversation before.
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We haven't; I think you're confusing me w/ someone else.

But if Bush ever said anything along the lines of God telling him to go to war, it would have been an immense story. Maybe I missed it, but that would have been huge.
 
aeprga said:
Anyone remember who created the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives through Executive Order?
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George W. Bush did and I'm appalled that President Obama has not closed it. This is not something that tax payer dollars should be spent on. I don't have a problem with ombudsmandhip between Government and Religious groups but they should not be financed by the government to provide social services....or governemnt services of any kind.
 
Bush allegedly told a group of Palestinian leaders that God told him to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was widely reported at the time.
 
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