1 Boring Old Man

Bush Tells Group He Sees a ‘Third Awakening’

President Bush said yesterday that he senses a "Third Awakening" of religious devotion in the United States that has coincided with the nation’s struggle with international terrorists, a war that he depicted as "a confrontation between good and evil."

Bush told a group of conservative journalists that he notices more open expressions of faith among people he meets during his travels, and he suggested that might signal a broader revival similar to other religious movements in history. Bush noted that some of Abraham Lincoln’s strongest supporters were religious people "who saw life in terms of good and evil" and who believed that slavery was evil. Many of his own supporters, he said, see the current conflict in similar terms.

"A lot of people in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including me," Bush said during a 1 1/2 -hour Oval Office conversation on cultural changes and a battle with terrorists that he sees lasting decades. "There was a stark change between the culture of the ’50s and the ’60s — boom — and I think there’s change happening here," he added. "It seems to me that there’s a Third Awakening."

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I’ve been wondering when he was going to start playing the Christian card. Besides being an incredibly manipualtive, Rovian, Machiavellian thing to say, I’d bet a gajillion dollars that he doesn’t even know the history behind what he’s saying. What I’m reacting to is, "Bush said yesterday that he senses a ‘Third Awakening’ of …" The notion that he thinks about such things, that he "senses" such things, is ludicrous.

More accurate, "It says on my teleprompter that …"

More Thoughts: The Garden of Good and Evil

Bush noted that some of Abraham Lincoln’s strongest supporters were religious people "who saw life in terms of good and evil" and who believed that slavery was evil. Many of his own supporters, he said, see the current conflict in similar terms. "A lot of people in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including me."

The problems and dangers of "good and evil" thinking doesn’t seem to dawn on him. People who think in terms of "good and evil" always see their side of the thing as "good," and the other side as "evil." Osama Bin Laden pretty clearly thinks in terms of "good and evil" too. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to Mr. Bush that seeing a conflict in terms of "good and evil" leads one to torture, depersonalize, murder, etc. the people on the other side because they’re "evil" after all. Most people know this about "good and evil" thinking when they reach late adolescence. "A lot of people in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including me," also seems to pervade his views of those of us who oppose his thinking. What’s painful about his speech is that he thinks he is selling a good way to think. I know he’s speaking here to a presumed religiously inclined group, and he thinks they’ll really go for it. But it’s hard to imagine that an adult in the office of the President of the United States of America would talk like this. It’s embarassing…