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In high school I was a Lutheran, and in college I became an Evangelical Christian. Ultimately, I rejected that particular expression of faith, but I still have friends who remain Evangelical Christians, and I respect them very much.
I feel my former belief gives me some insight into aspects of the current state of Republican politics. George Bush is no born-again Christian. He has claimed to be, but he isn’t.
One True Believer who is apparently now disillusioned with Bush is David Kuo. He was on The Colbert Report last night. I haven’t watched this yet. I just wanted to get it posted before bedtime. I’ll add a comment if he says anything that hits a nerve.
I’ve listened to Terry Gross’ interview with Kuo that friend Tom pointed out. Kuo reveals a past personal crisis that explains how he went from Dukakis Democrat to Bush Republican.
Kuo is a thoughtful man, who admits he was confused when he was younger. Maybe Kuo didn’t realize what he was getting into when he became a neo-con Republican, but he knows exactly what he’s doing now by leaving them.
OK, so now I’m finally watching this video after 6pm at work, and what do I think about what David Kuo says? Well, for starters, the guy who procures a legit Boston Marathon number for me every year is also named Kuo, so I’ll have to be nice! 😉
I hear in David Kuo the same combination of Christian faith and fair-minded rational thinking that my Evangelical friends display. He seems sincere in his disappointment that the White House wasn’t truly committed to helping the poor through the faith-based initiative. Kuo is definitely my kind of Christian.
However, what’s implicit in what Kuo says is there was supposed to be a lot more government money available for the faith-based work. And that’s where my problem lies. The use of churches to distribute government money is not how things are supposed to work. Remember that little thing called the separation of Church and State?
The Boston Globe ran a 4-part series a couple of weeks ago about the money the U.S. gov’t gives to religious groups operating in the Third World. That’s where David Kuo should look to see where all of the faith-based money went. Instead of being spent domestically, it’s been earmarked for missionary work.
Guess which groups are getting the money? Evangelical Christians are getting over 98% of it. And it isn’t just the Jews and Muslims who are slighted. Even mainstream Protestant churches are being excluded. Surprised? I’m not.
One last comment. Kuo’s crack about the Ayatollah was spot-on. Bravo.
CORRECTION: What Kuo said about the money wasn’t implicit. It was explicit. What was implicit was Bush not making good on his promise.
He was also a guest on Fresh Air yesterday.
Bush and Jesus are not the same person! says Kuo.
Bush made all the poor! says Colbert. Both comments got big rounds of applause..