George Bush revealed that his approach to the bible, evolution and to other religions has more in common with liberal protestants than with his fundamentalist political amen corner. This was made clear in a surprising ABC Nightline interview on Monday.
When asked by Cynthia McFadden if he thought the bible was literally true President Bush answered:
“You know. Probably not. … No, I’m not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament for example is … has got … You know, the important lesson is ‘God sent a son,'”
When asked if he prays to the same God as those with different religious beliefs he said:
“I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people,”
And when asked about creation and evolution the President answered:
“I think you can have both. I think evolution can — you’re getting me way out of my lane here. I’m just a simple president. But it’s, I think that God created the earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty and I don’t think it’s incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution.”
Check, check, check, – Oh, my God, George Bush and I have have the same world view!!!
It is worth noting that his beliefs on biblical literalism, religious pluralism, and evolution are just coming out now. Contrary to popular belief, George Bush is no dummy. During the last eight years Rove and Bush have cynically allowed fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals to project their world view onto the president. In his last month in office, he may be seeing that fundamentalism, while useful to him in office, is not something he wants to carry with him into civilian life, or believes should be promoted within American society.
George Bush was trusted by a large segment of the Christian population because he publicly articulated a profound personal experience of God through Jesus Christ. This interview reveals that someone can have an authentic religious experience without the burdens of Biblical literalism, anti-science suspicions and Christian triumphalism.
Hopefully other political and religious figures on the right will follow suit. Governor Huckabee?
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