Socio-Political Rants.
So if Britain has a Muslim Prime Minister
would his God guide him to invade the US as well? Damn. Not to mention
isn’t the whole point of the American Political System is one of the
separation of Church and State?
Someone should start an Atheist Party. That way at
least I know that flawed logic and intelligence, out right lies and
greed, or humanitarian reasons causes wars. It would make me feel
better that at least it’s a clash between peoples and not religions or
higher power that leads to wars in the 21st Century.
[Blair] Asked about joining the US-led invasion in March 2003, he said: "That
decision has to be taken and has to be lived with, and in the end there
is a judgment that — well, I think if you have faith about these
things then you realise that judgment is made by other people."Pushed to clarify what he meant, Blair, a devout Christian, replied: "If you believe in God, it’s made by God as well."…
Parkinson asked Blair whether he prays to God when making a decision such as going to war.
He responded: "Well, I don’t want to get into something like that."
Pressed on the subject Blair answered: "Of course you struggle with
your own conscience about it because people’s lives are affected and
it’s one of these situations that I suppose very few people ever find
themselves in. In the end you do what you think is the right thing."In October last year US president George W. Bush US allegedly said God told him to invade Iraq and
Afghanistan, according to a report…
Menzies Campbell, leader of the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats,
which opposed military action, said: "Going to war isn’t just an act of
faith, it requires rigorous analysis of the legality of doing so, the
likelihood of success, the number of possible casualties and the
long-term consequences.His Lib Dem colleague Evan Harris, an honorary associate of campaign group the National Secular Society, agreed.
"Our political system relies on decisions being made by accountable and
elected politicians, not by their or anyone else’s gods," Harris said."It’s a bizarre and shocking revelation that the prime minister claims
to have been guided by the supernatural in this matter, especially
given the particular religious sensitivities in the Middle East."Politicians should avoid references to deities in their public life.
We don’t want Bush or Khomeini-type fundamentalism in our politics."Blair believes God will judge him on Iraq war
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 
Well if he was so religious, why did he go to war even though the Pope (John Paul II) refused to give his blessing – after Blair had gone there specifically to get it?
I am religious, but I would never try to use my faith to justify doing something that is against the teachings of Christ. Don’t worry – Blair is just trying to trick himself into thinking he’ll be judged “well” by posterity.
God will judge him on the Iraq War but not in the way he thinks….
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Just two brief comments
1) Britain doesn’t have seperation of Church and state, it has a mandatory joining.
Religous education is mandatory in British schools and the country has a national church, which the head of state is also the head.
So it should be no surprise that their leader, a professed church goer, prayed for divine guidance.
The day a leader doesn’t question the situation, and doesn’t ask for help, is the day that a war starts.
Blind fair in oneself is more of a crime than being religious.
2) He didn’t actually say that he got a message telling him to go to war, in fact he didn’t say what message, if any he got, only that he believed that he would be judged for his actions.
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“Well if he was so religious, why did he go to war even though the Pope (John Paul II) refused to give his blessing”
Britain is a protestant country with its own state church. Technically, it would be the Archbishop of Cantabery who Blair would take his cue from. Not the Vatacan
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All well and good, but rationality not religion should be the guiding decisional beacon. Clear thinking not prayer may have kept the US/UK out of the mess in which they’re presently mired.
Perhaps Jesus wasn’t listening that day.
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“Pushed to clarify”, “Pressed on the subject”, I wonder when we’ll see these phrases in a Bush interview. Good old Parkie! 🙂
Anyway, there are plenty atheistic parties. Back in Holland, for example, the only religious parties are the Christian Democrats and the small right wing religious extremists. All the others, Social Democrats, Liberals (in the European sense), Populists, Environmentalists, etc. are all generally secular.
In high school, we did have religious classes (it’s a Catholic school), but it dealt with all ‘life-visions’, from capitalism to communism, to islam, to hinduism.
The connection is that most of those ‘life-visions’ have a political party representing them. People don’t really have a problem with that. This is mostly because we have coalition governments, so that most extremist ideas have to be compromised on or won’t be accepted at all. Also because of that, the pm doesn’t have that much influence. So there’s not the emphasis on someone’s personality that there is in the US or UK.
Despite the fact that it has given us Jan-Peter Balkenende, I still think that’s a good thing. To paraphrase Churchill, it’s not good, but it’s the best we have.
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ACB
The “union” of State and Church is an anacronism. It has no relevance to modern society and certainly none in politics.
Plus we’re allowed to be Catholic today – indeed a lot of people say Tony’s a closet Catholic. And why would he have gone to Rome if he wasn’t asking for the Pope’s blessing. Plus the Pope actually said he wasn’t interested in giving one, so therefore he must have been asked for it!
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