Bush's evangelical following will forgive him ANYTHING - he's born again!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

A caller to Al Franken, yesterday, brought this up. I hadn't thought about that but had been wondering how anyone could support him. Now it makes some sense to me. He could have been a draft-dodging, drunken, coke-addled failure ......oh yeah - he WAS. Doesn't matter what, they'd forgive him.

Unless he had sex with another man, that is.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Whenever his past catches up with him, * starts singing "Amazing Grace".

[rooboy]

2. I saw a documentary on Bush yesterday, and this is the WHOLE point...

with this guy. You are absolutely correct, and there's virtually nothing you can do about it. When the media reports his lies, it's dismissed as satanic deception. If a sin from his past is brought up, it's been forgiven by Jesus. And when things like Iraq and the economy fuck up, those are just 'tests' sent by the Almighty to make * stronger.

I think there is a strategy to beat this guy, but it's too late in the game for it now - it basically involves going after Falwell, Robertson and the other kooks instead of the republicans and Karl Rove.

The message Kerry needs to get out is "Jesus doesn't do politics", if he still can.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

12. Was it the Frontline "Jesus Factor" piece?

cause that was some SCARY shit

[rooboy]

17. No, it was called "With God on our side"...

by Lumiere productions:

http://www.abc.net.au/programsales/s1194759.htm

and it was also some scary shit!!!

[napi21]

3. It is true all is forgiven that happened before they were "reborn"

BUT, you must stick with the program! If you fall off the wagon, all those things are still considered very wrong.

Evangelicals would never phrase it the way I did, but that's the jist of how they feel.

What Shrub did in college or the NG doesn't matter to them. IF proof of nasties in his actions recently come forward, that would be a problem. The trouble is, it's very hard to get proof of his actions now. There is a lot of protection around him.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Does this mean that if Hitler, in his bunker just before his death,

asked for forgiveness, all would be forgiven?

[napi21]

14. YES! That's the belief, as long as the sorrow is real.

This is not just a belief with the fundies, but with the Catholic church too. If you sinned, but repent and are truely sorry, God will forgive you.

[EstimatedProphet]

11. Unfortunately, that's not how it works with a lot of fundies

There's a substantial sect among the fundamentalists that believe in the "born again" doctrine, that think once you are saved, all future sins are forgiven too. So in areas where fundamentalism really holds sway, like in the deep south, there are people who do whatever they want with no concern about the right/wrong thing, because they were saved and it's OK. It's a total corruption of what being "born again" is supposed to be about, and I have personally met people that look towards being saved so that they can legitimately be immoral.

[ClintonTyree]

4. That was his only...................

recourse to weasel out of his past "youthful indiscretions" without being held responsible for anything.............yet gain.
His faith is a faith of convenience, not conviction.
He's as shallow and hollow as he's ever been.
However as you stated, as long as the Fundies believe he's received Christ as his personal savior, everything is forgiven and he can never do any wrong in their minds.
If there is a hell, I hope this bastard spends an eternity rotting there.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. Bingo!

"His faith is a faith of convenience,not conviction." Wish I could remember where I read this but, apparently he was "born again" right before they decided to run him for Tx Gov. And I seem to remember reading that that was right after they put him in rehab for 30 days to dry him out. I swear, I read this somewhere. :shrug:

[asthmaticeog]

5. Three words

Karla Faye Tucker

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

13. Bingo - that says it all

heartless murderer - HYPOCRITICAL FUCK! She found Jesus and received NO forgiveness from his holiness

[vi5]

7. I bought this point up last week....

Of course people's excuse was "But he's doing stuff NOW!!" I know this, but that point is predicated on the fact that this whole thing is rational and rooted in some kind of logic.

His supporters believe he is on some kind of divine mission and anything he has done wrong prior to being saved is irellevant, and anything he has done after must have some bigger meaning or purpose that they don't know about but are willing to accept.

[Indiana_Dem]

8. Yes but, even if I would forgive a person doesn't mean

I would keep him in a job if he wasn't doing well at it. Allowing the individual to keep producing ill fruits of labor and stay where they're at just shows blind following. I really don't think God intended that but then again that's my own thinking for me!

[liberalmuse]

10. According to my mom who is a fundie...

You could be Ted Bundy, but all you have to do is ask Jesus in your heart on your death bed and you go to heaven. On the other hand, if a person who has been compassionate and kind all their lives doesn't accept Jesus as their personal savior, they are going to hell.

These people are brainwashed, and frankly, I've been around enough born-again Christians to want them to stay the hell away from me. Let me tell you, they are scary people. There's a certain type of person attracted to this cult--they've usually f*cked up their lives royally and are not willing to take full responsibility for past or present actions. Jesus is their crutch or their crack, depending. Dealing with these people is aggravating, because they will spit in your eye, or much worse and then tell you Jesus forgives them so there's no need for your forgiveness.

I do know some very nice people of the Christian faith who the above statements absolutely do not apply to.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

15. You and Estimated Prophet have got it right

Once you're saved you get a pass on all transgressions, past, present and future. If you don't believe you do, then you haven't really accepted Christ into your heart. It's a great Catch-22: to be blessed by God is to believe you can get away with murder. As you note, it's a particular sect that believes this bizarreness - it's not a tenet of most Christian faiths. They are the ones who scream that you're persecuting Christians when you bring up separation of church and state.

These people are lost to reality, and they aren't the ones we were ever going to sway with character issues. Luckily there are a lot of others who can be convinced that as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.

[EstimatedProphet]

16. Agreed

I think fundamentalism attracts addicts-a lot of times people who are substance abuse addicts become fundies because IMO it's trading one addiction for another. Fundies quite often try to witness substance abusers, not only to swing them away from substance abuse, but because they become the most stalwart of the faithful. therefore you see things like Christian Bikers clubs...you can be saved and still be a Hell's Angel and act like one!