Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Bush's praying 'ineffectual'
Latest horse manure from Focus on the Family Action**
--ER
WASHINGTON, DC -- President Bush, already facing the lowest approval ratings in history, is coming under fire from former supporters over what they call his "ineffectual and incompetent" use of prayer for national guidance and assistance.
"Every time the president is criticized, he insists that the nation is in his prayers," said the Family Research Council's Bob Jensen. "That may be, but it's becoming more and more clear that these prayers are either too infrequent, too brief, or not strongly worded enough to be effective."
Jensen added: "This nation deserves more than a president who just pays lip service to prayer. It deserves a president who demands that his prayers get real-world results."
Despite assurances from the president that he "prays every day" for the nation's interests both at home and abroad, the mounting crises of recent months—escalating gas prices, the botched Dubai port security deal, ethics scandals, and the rising death toll in Iraq—have left many unimpressed with the effectiveness of his devotion.
Francine Gundersen, an Iowa mother and churchgoer, says she voted for Bush but is now having doubts about his commitment to prayer, particularly with regard to Iraq, where her son, P.F.C. Jason Gundersen, has served since June 2004.
"Bush says he prays for the soldiers' safe return, but if that's the case, where is my son, Mr. President?" she said.
The White House Office of Communications, which has denied any wrongpraying, released transcripts of Bush's inner dialogues with God from May 12 through Oct. 22, 2005 and tried to paint the president as "very close" to the Almighty, saying he speaks with Him "regularly."
"The president spends many hours each day alone in quiet contemplation," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "These allegations are, quite simply, absurd. The president is as strong a prayer as any who has occupied the White House."
In an interview on Fox News, Vice President Dick Cheney defended Bush, saying the president puts as much energy into prayer as he does into domestic policies.
"Half the time, I can't even get him on the phone because he's busy praying for the American people, the same people who are now so quick to criticize him," Cheney said. "If something's wrong with those prayers, I would suggest that it's perhaps the fault of a supernatural entity. But it's not the president's. He is doing his duty."
While newly released portions of White House prayer logs show that Bush's praying has actually gone up in recent months, critics are seeking to subpoena the documents in their entirety to determine the strength of those prayers.
The harshest criticisms continue to come from members of the president's conservative base, who insist that the proper devotional words must be used in prayer.
"There is a real possibility that the president misrepresented the number of times he invokes Jesus' power each day in accordance with the strict guidelines of scripture," said Henry Holbrook, senior fellow at the Intercession Institute, a leading conservative prayer tank. "Is he clasping his hands together tightly enough? Is he using the proper forms of the pronouns 'thine' and 'thou'? What about the verb 'hast'?"
Susan DiDomenico of the National Prayer Task Force said her organization is seeking "full disclosure" of any and all prayers Bush may have skipped or manipulated to seem more effective or holy.
**Not really from Focus on the Family Action! It's from The Onion. Didja bite? Didja? Huh? Huh? Dang hard to tell -- up until: "The White House Office of Communications, which has denied any wrongpraying ..."
(Hat tip to Braingirl, who had her own fun with this "news story.")
--ER
WASHINGTON, DC -- President Bush, already facing the lowest approval ratings in history, is coming under fire from former supporters over what they call his "ineffectual and incompetent" use of prayer for national guidance and assistance.
"Every time the president is criticized, he insists that the nation is in his prayers," said the Family Research Council's Bob Jensen. "That may be, but it's becoming more and more clear that these prayers are either too infrequent, too brief, or not strongly worded enough to be effective."
Jensen added: "This nation deserves more than a president who just pays lip service to prayer. It deserves a president who demands that his prayers get real-world results."
Despite assurances from the president that he "prays every day" for the nation's interests both at home and abroad, the mounting crises of recent months—escalating gas prices, the botched Dubai port security deal, ethics scandals, and the rising death toll in Iraq—have left many unimpressed with the effectiveness of his devotion.
Francine Gundersen, an Iowa mother and churchgoer, says she voted for Bush but is now having doubts about his commitment to prayer, particularly with regard to Iraq, where her son, P.F.C. Jason Gundersen, has served since June 2004.
"Bush says he prays for the soldiers' safe return, but if that's the case, where is my son, Mr. President?" she said.
The White House Office of Communications, which has denied any wrongpraying, released transcripts of Bush's inner dialogues with God from May 12 through Oct. 22, 2005 and tried to paint the president as "very close" to the Almighty, saying he speaks with Him "regularly."
"The president spends many hours each day alone in quiet contemplation," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "These allegations are, quite simply, absurd. The president is as strong a prayer as any who has occupied the White House."
In an interview on Fox News, Vice President Dick Cheney defended Bush, saying the president puts as much energy into prayer as he does into domestic policies.
"Half the time, I can't even get him on the phone because he's busy praying for the American people, the same people who are now so quick to criticize him," Cheney said. "If something's wrong with those prayers, I would suggest that it's perhaps the fault of a supernatural entity. But it's not the president's. He is doing his duty."
While newly released portions of White House prayer logs show that Bush's praying has actually gone up in recent months, critics are seeking to subpoena the documents in their entirety to determine the strength of those prayers.
The harshest criticisms continue to come from members of the president's conservative base, who insist that the proper devotional words must be used in prayer.
"There is a real possibility that the president misrepresented the number of times he invokes Jesus' power each day in accordance with the strict guidelines of scripture," said Henry Holbrook, senior fellow at the Intercession Institute, a leading conservative prayer tank. "Is he clasping his hands together tightly enough? Is he using the proper forms of the pronouns 'thine' and 'thou'? What about the verb 'hast'?"
Susan DiDomenico of the National Prayer Task Force said her organization is seeking "full disclosure" of any and all prayers Bush may have skipped or manipulated to seem more effective or holy.
**Not really from Focus on the Family Action! It's from The Onion. Didja bite? Didja? Huh? Huh? Dang hard to tell -- up until: "The White House Office of Communications, which has denied any wrongpraying ..."
(Hat tip to Braingirl, who had her own fun with this "news story.")
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LOL had me going up until, "newly released portions of White House prayer logs", but I have to confess I was moreorless just skimming the text. I missed the part about wrongpraying.
Funny. Seriously. I DO have a sense of humor, even when My President is being bashed. As long as it's funny.
Remember, I was the one that said they are going to change the name of Texas to just Tex, because the as(s) is in Washington.
Actually, my first thought here was "Who do they think they are? Prayers aren't always answered with the answer we want. Sometimes the answer is "No".
Funny. Seriously. I DO have a sense of humor, even when My President is being bashed. As long as it's funny.
Remember, I was the one that said they are going to change the name of Texas to just Tex, because the as(s) is in Washington.
Actually, my first thought here was "Who do they think they are? Prayers aren't always answered with the answer we want. Sometimes the answer is "No".
On second thought, It might have been offensive to me on another day...I am moody like that sometimes. Some days I have a sense of humor. Some days I don't.
So it goes.
So it goes.
I find that when I'm just offended, something has just rubbed me the wrong way. I try to save my true outrage for when others are being needlessly and wroongfully harmed or slighred by people with power. Which is why the wrong being done by *your* president so offends me.
I was a little slower on the uptake. I got to the the next phrase before my mind woke up and my Onion Detector kicked in:
"...released transcripts of Bush's inner dialogues with God from May 12 through Oct. 22, 2005"
But so many wild things have been said all around, that almost nothing seem startleing now.
You know the pundits recent statments that GW's aministration is begining to resemble Jimmiy Carters, that example went up another notch today as President GW worked at a Habitat-For-Humanity site in New Orleans.
So it gets weirder each and every day. Remember the outrageous but excellent movie "Network"? Well now we watch that network every day on real TV.
What farce of art will become our next reality?
"...released transcripts of Bush's inner dialogues with God from May 12 through Oct. 22, 2005"
But so many wild things have been said all around, that almost nothing seem startleing now.
You know the pundits recent statments that GW's aministration is begining to resemble Jimmiy Carters, that example went up another notch today as President GW worked at a Habitat-For-Humanity site in New Orleans.
So it gets weirder each and every day. Remember the outrageous but excellent movie "Network"? Well now we watch that network every day on real TV.
What farce of art will become our next reality?
# posted by 
: 3:15 PM
: 3:15 PM
"Noted malaprop'er, Geo W, thought they were asking him to PLAY harder every day...."
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# posted by : 9:03 PM
: 9:03 PM << Home
