We were regularly warned that America was about to be turned into a theocracy. We are told how dangerous it was to have a man who talked about his faith in public and actually dared to mention the J word: Jesus. Of course for the secular left the J word is the nearest thing they have to blasphemy.
Any time Bush was caught praying in public, mentioning his Christian faith, or invoking the name of Jesus, the secularists on the left told us America was in the grip of a reckless religious fundamentalist. They did their best to paint Bush as someone who did not differ in the least from the Ayatollah's in Iran or the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In their eyes all religious "extremists" were dangerous, and America was headed toward Armageddon with such a religious nut case in office. Any day now, we were warned, this religious fruitcake would usher in a global holy war.
And equally appalling, Bush was obviously blurring the lines between church and state time and time again. He clearly was violating the First Amendment, and we needed to get him out of there as fast as possible, to restore America to its proper secular position.
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the White House. We now of course have a lefty Democrat in power, and guess what? It turns out that ol' Obama has invoked the J word and mentioned his faith even more than Bush ever did. Seriously!
And what is even more bizarre, there has not been a peep out of the MSM about all this, and the secular left has been dead silent on all this. So what is going on here? Is not Obama destroying the wall of separation between church and state? Isn't he also on the verge of turning the US into a repressive theocracy?
Well, it seems not. You see, the secular left really does not hate all public expressions of faith. In fact they really do not mind most of it. It is just the dedicated Christian who takes his faith seriously and has a high view of Scripture that they can't stomach. They do not mind nominal believers, apathetic believers, leftist believers or theologically liberal believers.
And that is why we don't hear a word of complaint about Obama. He in fact has a faith which is fully compatible with that of the secular left. He is fully in favour of special rights for homosexuals. He fully supports a woman's right to choose to kill her own baby.
He is quite happy to play up America's enemies and downplay the uniqueness and greatness of America. He is happy to grovel to Islamic leaders, while denigrating his own Christian faith. Now that is the kind of "believer' which the secular left can support. This guy fits their agenda to a T. So by all means, give us more of that old time Obama religion. After all, it is identical to the agenda of the secular left.
Paul Kengor picks up this story of the left's double standards regarding faith in the White House: "There's an important article in the Politico titled, 'Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush.' President Barack Obama, says the article, has mentioned Jesus Christ 'in a number of high-profile public speeches,' more so than did President George W. Bush, and in much less 'innocuous contexts'."
He goes on to compare Bush with Clinton. It seems the same pattern emerges: Clinton tended to parade his faith and use the J word even more than Bush did. He continues, "I could go on and on with examples. Vice President Al Gore sounded like a Baptist preacher on the 2000 campaign trail, and Hillary Clinton obliterated any propriety with her breathtaking statements in dozens of New York City churches during her 2000 Senate campaign."
He notes the glaring double standards of the left and the MSM here: "I've devoted chapters and books to liberal Democrats' extremely expressive public expressions of faith. A core element of that story is how the press embraces these expressions but then, on a dime, turns and blasts conservative Republicans for much milder statements.
"Thus, I fully expect President Obama to talk about God in much stronger terms and far more often than did President Bush. Liberals will not politically crucify him as they did Bush. When the double standard is pointed out - strictly by conservatives - liberals will cover their ears, wink, and move on. At best, when confronted, they will conjure up the usual excuses as to why the reaction is different."
He concludes, "So, be prepared to be greatly frustrated. The press has made it abundantly clear: there are different sets of rules for conservative Christian politicians and liberal Christian politicians."
That's it. The secular left, along with their allies in the MSM, are quite happy to warn about impending theocracies when a conservative Christian dares to share his faith in the public and political arenas. But when a religious lefty does the same thing, then the threat of immediate destruction is withdrawn, and the warning sirens are silenced.
But should we expect otherwise?
http://townhall.com/columnists/DrPaulKengor/2009/06/13/talking_jesus_obama_vs_bush