Author Topic: The problem with George W. Bush’s religion is more psychological than doctrinal  (Read 1192 times)

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Offline CactusCarlos

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The problem with George W. Bush’s religion is more psychological than doctrinal
Posted by Kurt_and_Hunter on Mon Mar-17-08 01:42 PM

Yes, I am an atheist, which may give me an impaired perspective or a more objective perspective on the question of adult transcendental religious conversion. But these musings that were appropriate for 2000 have, if anything, been buttressed by the nightmarish Bush presidency, and are observations should apply to Democrats and Republicans alike:
Most religious people grow up in a tradition. Most people accept religious dogma, to whatever degree they do, as an act of adherence to a shared, long-standing tradition. Organized religion is, like all institutions, meant to be stabilizing.

An individual adult who undergoes a conversion experience is another thing altogether. If an adult believes in nothing yesterday and suddenly believes he has a personal relationship with God today there is no telling what he will believe tomorrow. We are talking about susceptibility to fundamental shifts in one’s conception of the universe itself.

Any of us can go crazy tomorrow. We are one burst blood vessel away from believing our neighbors are robots or that our cat is the prophet Ezekiel. But people who undergo adult conversion experiences have a demonstrated capacity for sudden inversion of fundamental concepts of the nature of reality.

So it is not religious bigotry to say that it would be the height of irresponsibility to give George W. Bush control of America’s nuclear arsenal. It’s common sense.

A person may suffer from epilepsy and be marvelously capable in almost any pursuit. The only reason we do not have epileptic airline pilots is because the downside of error is so high. It’s a statistical thing. An epileptic person can drive a car, but not a passenger jet because the downside of catastrophe is different.

Adult conversion need not be disqualifying for all sorts of responsible positions, from crossing guard to four-star general.

The President of the United States, however, has more destructive power at his command than anyone who has ever lived. The Presidency carries, or should carry, the highest standard of psychological stability of any job on Earth. Yes, Nixon went mad late in his presidency and we survived. Reagan had Alzheimer’s, and we survived. JFK was taking cortisone every day, which carries a constant risk of induced mania, and we survived. The first Secretary of Defense went completely mad, running through the halls naked waving a gun, and we survived.

We have been lucky, and the world has been lucky.

But our good luck in the past doesn’t change the fact that no person who has experienced a sincere adult conversion experience should be President. If Bush is lying about being born again as an adult then he’s just a liar about deep, personal things, which is grotesque, but not disqualifying.

But what if he’s telling the truth?

You're absolutely right.  Let's impeach Bush!

 :whatever:
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Offline dandi

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All that blah-blah-blah to forward the absurd assertion that acceptance of Christ as Savior is de facto proof of mental illness. I would say the illness lies in feeling compelled to go through that much mental contortion in order to demonize your enemy. Get some help, and get a life, DUmbasses.

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DrDan  (1000+ posts)      Mon Mar-17-08 02:45 PM
Response to Original message
1. well - I disagree that part of the problem is not doctrinal
 Anyone who believes in the rapture should not have his finger on any kind of trigger

Well I can understand you feeling that way, given your fundamental ignorance of the rapture and the idea that one man can arbitrarily decide to force its coming about through their actions. The DUmmies' obsession with holding forth on Christian beliefs about which they themselves are quite clueless is, most literally, staggering.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2008, 03:22:24 PM by dandi »
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Offline MrsSmith

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They seem to have no problem trusting someone who believes he'll get his own private harem after death.  :mental:
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Offline LadyLiberty

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But if a fundy all of a sudden decides to ditch their religion that they have known all their natural born lives and become atheists, that would be perfectly acceptable, because it follows their belief system.
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Offline Carl

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But if a fundy all of a sudden decides to ditch their religion that they have known all their natural born lives and become atheists, that would be perfectly acceptable, because it follows their belief system.

Or suddenly starts shouting the "social gospel".