Bush: Our Enemies Have No Souls
During his recent campaign speech calling for renewal of the Patriot Act, Bush mentioned “souls” five times, leading up to this final, extremely curious (from a theological standpoint) mention:
And there’s only one path to safety and that’s the path of action. Congress must act with the Patriot Act. We must continue to stay on the offense when it comes to chasing these killers down and bringing them to justice — and we will. We’ve got to be strong and resolute and determined. We will never show weakness in the face of these people who have no soul, who have no conscience, who care less about the life of a man or a woman or a child. We’ve got to do everything we can here at home. And there’s no doubt in my mind that, with the Almighty’s blessings and hard work, that we will succeed in our mission.
The discussion of this at Corrente is pretty interesting (see this item: How can Bush say that his enemies have no souls?, as well as the item’s comments). It includes a link to an earlier Corrente posting (POTL — short for “People of the Lie”) that I also really liked.
The asssertion by Bush that our enemies have no souls raises some questions. Obviously, it doesn’t comport with the teachings of any mainstream Chrisitian religion. So, given Bush’s frequent allusion to his being, in fact, a born-again Christian, what does it reveal about him?
To me, it reveals that his religious faith is, to him, very much like every other aspect of his character. Fundamental questions (like whether evildoers have souls, or whether a unilateral pre-emptive invasion of Iraq will help or hurt US interests) hold essentially zero interest for him. He’s not an analyzer. He’s a gut-checker. He knows the truth, knows what’s right, and feels no particular need to examine the world to see if it matches up with his a priori beliefs.
I don’t think anyone’s going to bother correcting Bush on this theological point; people realize that the distinction really just isn’t important to him. Souls, shmouls, who cares? The important thing is that they’re our enemies, they’re sub-human, and we needn’t be concerned about moral complexities if we decide to hunt them down and exterminate them like vermin. Oh, and likewise submerged in the clutter of unimportant details: what one has to do to qualify for such morally-neutral extermination. Commit acts of terror? Sure. Be a Muslim living in a Middle Eastern country that lacks a pro-US foreign policy? Okay, you’re in, too. Oppose the president’s policies at home? Yup, you’re also soulless. Line ’em up for the gas chamber, boys. We’re making a better world.
What’s that? You think I’m being unfair? I don’t think so. It’s completely consistent with how Bush operates. I honestly believe that the only thing holding him back at this point is his desire to win the upcoming election. If Bush wins a second term, such that that last restraint on his behavior is removed, I can’t imagine how far he’d go in pursuing his personal version of reality, both at home and abroad. I really don’t want to find out.
When you get right down to it, it’s just awfully convenient to grant onesself the power to imagine a world that matches all one’s preconceptions, and then to ignore the world’s real nature in one’s interactions with it. It’s what very young children do, as a rule. Among grownups, though, it’s considerably more rare. In a person who wields the power of the US presidency, it’s downright scary.
April 21st, 2004 at 12:38 pm
Before I lost my family in Reagan’s death camps back in the eighties, I would have thought you were paranoid, Jello. Now, I see the truth. You, I, Rage against the Machine…all doomed to death and medical experiments if the souless GW wins re-election. After the Shadow Police killed Walter Mondale, I knew it was already too late.
April 21st, 2004 at 12:44 pm
Heh. Yeah, well, maybe I’m over-reacting a bit. But it is kinda scary. How far down does the corruption in Bush’s own soul go? I don’t think we’ve found out yet.
April 21st, 2004 at 2:05 pm
Wow….
At least when I made an exaggeration in order to make a point, in a comment I posted earlier, I admitted in the post that I was using some sarcasm. It’s posts like this one, when you get on a roll with your “Bush = AntiChrist” theorizations that make me wonder how little sarcasm you actually intend.
You know the old propoganda trick, that you must demonize your enemy to drive public rage against them? You seem to have “demonized” Bush internally so well that you’re willing to attribute any and all of the worst possible human qualities to this one man.
I’d venture to say that even a majority of those who disagree with Bush’s policies and effectivness, don’t take such a extreme view of Bush as an utterly and thoroughly corrupt and depraved human.
April 22nd, 2004 at 6:10 am
What those terrorists need is more James Brown in their lives. Then this sort of mudslinging wouldn’t stick.
May 1st, 2004 at 7:54 am
I don’t know much about a whole lot, except to look at President Bush, makes me ill and to hear him speak scares me to death. There is no expression on his face, I expect there is no expression from within. How can I trust a man who is like that?
May 1st, 2004 at 7:55 am
I don’t know much about a whole lot, except to look at President Bush, makes me ill and to hear him speak scares me to death. There is no expression on his face, I expect there is no expression from within. How can I trust a man who is like that?
May 1st, 2004 at 7:56 am
I don’t know much about a whole lot, except to look at President Bush, makes me ill and to hear him speak scares me to death. There is no expression on his face, I expect there is no expression from within. How can I trust a man who is like that? GOD only knows.
August 5th, 2004 at 12:39 pm
The corruption and greed of the present administration makes me ill. Little by little, we are losing our rights because as a country we have become too complacent. Come on now, the only people we have to blame is ourselves for the current state of our government. I feel that this next election is the single most important step to get our freedom back. My point is that if we don’t act now, it’s going to be too late. We let someone in power that I would tust running a “quicky mart”, let alone the most powerful military in the world. So please, I’m begging everyone who reads this,VOTE this next election and get this incompitent , inbred, retard out of office before he does become the antichrist and mistakingly blows up the world!!!!!! Jeff
September 22nd, 2004 at 11:01 pm
Kim, trust your instincts. I have investigated and can’t tell you how else I know but GW is the Anti-Christ and there’s nothing we can do to stop him. Just “do unto others” and pray for yourself and the rest of us.
Chris
January 4th, 2005 at 11:39 am
Do Nazis have souls?
If a Demacommie said that Nazis were soulless nobody would have barked.
The Republicrat argument has always been that the islamo-facists are just like Nazis.
January 10th, 2005 at 12:02 pm
And they are.