Then I looked at the speech as a whole and its message of liberty and freedom being, in essence, God's gift and desire for mankind, and Bush's commitment to support it and spread it.
Then it became apparent to me that the statement did stick out like a sore thumb, and that perhaps it was meant to. The message of liberty, human dignity, freedom, free choice and reason is not compatable with much of the Koran and the factions that have built up around it. That is obvious with any reasoned look at nations that have based their laws on those writings. There you have compulsion, hatred, and the seeds that produce the homocide/suicide mentality that proclaims that God approves of such murder of innocents and will reward such animlas with 72 of His precious daughters. The seeds of the very thing that the President's speech was aimed squarely against.
With these thoughts came a potential understanding that the President's speech was operating on several levels (IMHO) and if so, was masterfully done. He lays down a gauntlet for our waivering allies, he lays down a gauntlet for tyrants throughout the world, of any stripe...and he exposes the Koran and the radical islamic factions surrounding it for what they are. By including such a comment in his speech, he challenges Muslims everywhere to step up to the plate and test and compare the vision of liberty with the reality of their societies and the writings they are based upon. It fails that test. Bush is sowing the seeds for a potential major adjustment to and reformation if Islam...and using the military, diplomacy, economics and philosophy to do it. I believe that is the real essence of the speech in this regard.
...and philosophically he has done it with mild, even complimentary words.
I believe the speech, in retrospect is a masterpiece in that regard...and if the second component of it, the ownership society he speaks of here in the U.S. (as opposed to the liberals "great" society of pure socialization and marxism) is pursued witht the same type of commitment he has shown in the war on terror, then I believe the speech will overall prove to be a monumental philosophical masterpiece.
Now, that does not discount or quell the issues of too much government involvement in the quest for an ownership society IMHO..the free market can make that happen with very little government intervention IMHO, in fact was meant to. It also does not quell misgivings over the entire immigration and border control issues to date...but I do believe I see movement in this issue by the administration to a more sane and more comprehensive border control/legal process program I hope will be forthcoming...one that encourages legal processes for immigration, citezenship...but punishes, prevents, and detains the illegals. Or the CFR fiasco, etc. On all fronts, we shall see.
But overall, the mood is upbeat, the philosophy is on target and we shall just have to see how the President lives up to it and performs in his actions and influence with the legislature and judiciary. I believe he will do well...and we will thank that same Almighty Creator that he was in office as one whom the Creator can influence in this manner as opposed to Mr., Kerry or any of his ilk.
Best Fregards.
when a group of people's core beliefs come from a book which gives the supreme command to kill everyone who does not believe as you believe, it is not bigotry to renounce that religion and that group
Ya'll Stay safe !
I admire you and I admire your thoughts, but we have been switched to different tracks on this one.
I listened to the speech, every word of it, and, I posted comment #2 immediately, while seething with a feeling that if our president can't see the futility, what hope is there?
Islam Does not have words for "individual worth", "initiative", "conscience", and above all "freedom". Appealing to their potential goodness is useless; like talking to the man in the street in Martian. Before muslims can mull over ideas, they must grasp the meaning of the word. Their actions make it clear that they cannot. Islam does not allow it.
Even the "leaders" about to be elected in Iraq suffer from the fatal flaw.