dsandler.org/wp

From: Todd Stadler
Subject: On Bush’s speech
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 00:43:49 -0700

Dan,

I’m not sure if you’ve already been told about this or not, but
as to [the diary entry from
yesterday]:

“Yes, I am mindful that we’re all sinners,” the president said
Wednesday when asked for his views on homosexuality. “And I
caution those who may try to take the speck out of the
neighbor’s eye when they’ve got a log in their own.”

Um, what?

Bush was referencing Jesus’ “sermon on the mount”, from Matthew’s gospel.
Specifically, the section on judging others and hypocrisy.

Although I would say he didn’t exactly do it elegantly (clearly, or you
might have understood what he meant), it’s meant to be a warning against
judging other sinners when one has sins of one’s own that need to be dealt
with first.

You’d perhaps be surprised how many somewhat-subtle references to Christian
scripture show up in Bush’s speeches.

Thanks for pointing this out, Todd. My biblical knowledge is weak
– truth be told, I never read much of the sequel.

Most of his Biblical and religious references are even less subtle. That
was part of what I was reacting to. Moreover, I bristle at the way that
he uses obfuscation – Biblical obfuscation, nonetheless – to
hide and smooth and patch over the unspoken phrase:

“Homosexuality is a sin. Gays are sinners because of
it.”

Which is in fact the logical reduction of his response to the query,
“what are your views on homosexuality?” I am sure that while he takes
the customary approach of claiming himself in the set of all sinners,
he
certainly does not feel that having a wife and children is a sin.

For a “straight shooter” he’s remarkably clever about what he says on
a
semantic level (even if he frequently bungles it in syntax).