Evangelicals outraged over Bush's 'same god' remark

WorldNetDaily ^ | November 24, 2003 | WorldNetDaily

[joesnuffy]

Evangelicals outraged over Bush's 'same god' remark Christian leaders express dismay: 'He is commander in chief, not theologian in chief'

Posted: November 24, 2003 11:26 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Many Evangelical Christians in the U.S. say they are outraged over President George Bush's statement that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

The statement was made Thursday, during the joint press conference in England with Prime Minister Tony Blair. A reporter noted that Bush has frequently expressed the view that freedom is a gift from "the Almighty," but questioned whether the Bush believes "Muslims worship the same Almighty" as the president and other Christians do.

"I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's gift to the world," Bush replied. "It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same god," reported the London Telegraph.

Bush's equivalence of the Judeo-Christian and Muslim gods brought reactions of shock and dismay from Christians in the U.S. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, was quoted in the Baptist Press as saying the president "is simply mistaken."

According to a Washington Post account, Land said in an interview: "We should always remember that he is commander in chief, not theologian in chief. The Bible is clear on this: The one and true god is Jehovah, and his only begotten son is Jesus Christ."

Blair avoided answering the same question, replying with a general statement about freedom.

Bush, a practicing Christian who frequently talks publicly about the importance to him of his faith, nevertheless has repeatedly defended Islam as a religion of peace, ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack on the U.S. by 19 Islamist radicals.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, also contradicted the president in a press statement, reported the Post. "The Christian God encourages freedom, love, forgiveness, prosperity and health," said Haggard. "The Muslim god appears to value the opposite. The personalities of each god are evident in the cultures, civilizations and dispositions of the peoples that serve them. Muhammad's central message was submission; Jesus' central message was love. They seem to be very different personalities."

Despite their strenuous objections, neither Land nor Haggard thinks the president's statement will cost him votes: "This president has earned a lot of wiggle room among evangelicals," said Land, according to the Post. "If he had said that Islam is on a par with Christianity, it would be a more serious case of heartburn. This is just indigestion."

But according to Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate and president of American Values, Bush's comment is "not helpful to the president. Since everybody agrees he's not a theologian, he would be much better advised to punt when he gets that kind of question."

[biblewonk]

Yes we are. And non-evangelists are pretty mad at his Muslim ass kissing too.

[bobjam]

Bin-laden's god offers his followers wealth, wine and women if they submit to him. Compare that to what satan offerred Christ.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Bush nfell for the Islamist propaganda? Damn.

[U S Army EOD]

Well get over it, we do whorship the same God. But our form of religion has matured a bit more. Which God do you think the Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants in Northern Ireland worship. They are busy killing each other over religion.

[dead]

But according to Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate and president of American Values, Bush's comment is "not helpful to the president. Since everybody agrees he's not a theologian, he would be much better advised to punt when he gets that kind of question."

As Bauer should do when asked about political issues.

[dwilli]

The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Is this the folks who go around healing people?

[WinOne4TheGipper]

No we don't. I believe that has been explained many times over on FR.

[rrrod]

"Christians and Muslims worship the same God. " this is a true statement, however islamonazis and others have corrupted this truth

[ambrose]

As Bauer should do when asked about political issues.

Bada bing!

[myprecious]

Just ask any Muslim -

Did their god send His Son Jesus Crist to die on the cross so that our sins are forgiven?

That should pretty well settle it......

[maestro]

FYI....ping!

[1rudeboy]

I always look to the President for theological guidance. Not. These people need to get a grip.

[U S Army EOD]

To who?? Some of these hard shell religions we have in this country sound as Stone Aged as the Muslems do.

[drc43]

I believe the question was a trap by the reporter to cause this disension. Bush would have been in trouble regardless of the answer given.

[r9etb]

God is God, and I'm fully prepared to accept that Muslims are talking about the same God we are.

What people actually do about God is an entirely different matter. God is not defined by our actions. We humans are a fallen race -- it's not at all surprising that we do horrible things "for God." The salamikazes are not the first to do so, and they won't be the last.

Haggard, Bauer, Land, and the like would be a lot more effective if they focused on our fallen nature, rather than on trying to do the impossible by saying Who and What God is (and is not).

[Question_Assumptions]

Many people notice a distinct difference in tone between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament and Judaism certainly interprets God differently than Christians do and Jews could just as easily be offended by Christians claiming that their Trinity is the same One God worshipped by Judaism. Yet I think it would be difficult to argue that Christians don't believe they are worshipping the same God. Similarly, Muslims also believe they are worshipping the same God. Clearly two out of three of these groups are not doing something right but that doesn't mean that the God they are trying to worship isn't basically the same Entity.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Really? Isn't there a reason we're fighting fundamental Muslims instead of fundamental Christians? The Bible and the quran say two very different things, therefore they cannot possibly come from the mouth of the same God, who the Bible says is never changing.

[Question_Assumptions]

Just ask any Jew -

Did their god send His Son Jesus Crist to die on the cross so that our sins are forgiven?

Does this mean that Christians don't worship the same God that Jews do?