Desmond Tutu's thoughts on Bush' re-election and religion in government!

[blueblitzkrieg]

He's a personal hero of mine, and I stumbled on this interview with him that I haven't seen posted. Here is the link to the whole interview http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6769686/site/newsweek/ , here are some snippets I liked:

"I still can't believe that it really could have happened. Just look at the facts on the table: He’d gone into a war having misled people—whether deliberately or not—about why he went to war. You would think that would have knocked him out It didn’t. Look at the number of American soldiers who have died since he claimed that the war had ended. And yet it seems this doesn't make most Americans worry too much. I was teaching in Jacksonville, Fla., and I was shocked, because I had naively believed all these many years that Americans genuinely believed in freedom of speech. discovered there that when you made an utterance that was remotely contrary to what the White House was saying, then they attacked you. For a South African the déjà vu was frightening. They behaved exactly the same way that used to happen here —vilifying those who are putting forward a slightly different view.

I keep having to remind people that religion in and of itself is morally neutral. Religion is like a knife. When you use a knife for cutting up bread to prepare sandwiches, a knife is good. If you use the same knife to stick into somebody’s guts, a knife is bad. Religion in and of itself is not good or bad—it is what it makes you do… Frequently, fundamentalists will say this person is the anointed of God if the particular person is supporting their own positions on for instance, homosexuality, or abortion. I feel so deeply saddened . Do you really believe that the Jesus who was depicted in the Scriptures as being on the side of those who were vilified, those who were marginalized, that this Jesus would actually be supporting groups that clobber a group that is already persecuted? That’s a Christ I would not worship. I'm glad that I believe very fervently that Jesus would not be on the side of gay bashers. To think that people say, as they used to say, that AIDS was God’s punishment for homosexuality. Abominable. Abominable."

Why aren't there any popular Christian leaders in America like him??? It'd be refreshing to see a Desmond Tutu instead of a Falwell or a Robertson every once in awhile!

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Desmond Tutu resembles an American more than shrub.A real Christian!

[Lexingtonian]

2. Yeah, he mistakenly thought

that American Conservative Christians are a variety of genuine Christians. Truth is, they're the unregenerate pagans their pre-Christian ancestors were, except they now misuse the Bible to excuse their inhumane practices and beliefs. Kind of like cannibals using forks, come to think of it, some kind of upgrade in pretended civilization....

[xchrom]

3. desmond tutu is a christian

conservative christians are not -- christian, that is.

[Vidar]

4. He really nails it. Thanks for posting

[Quakerfriend]

5. All of the "Christian leaders in America"

are members of the Fellowship.

When will the American people show their outrage!

[pearl]

6. The religious left

in the US is alive an well. Jim Wallis,a contemporary of Tutu's,
is out with a new book. God's Politics. He's also editor of
Sojourners.net.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. We hear you, Tutu.

[TabulaRasa]

8. An unending source of wisdom

He's like a grandfather for the decent segment of humanity. I remember when he was on the C-Span call-in show last year. He had to take a call from some loony freeper. What an embarassing spectacle it was! He's also a reminder for us secular leftists, that religion doesn't always produce hate-filled lunatics ... though they always seem to get the most attention.