Bush Turns Universalist Unitarian!

Christmas is great for catching up on my reading... but wait: am I just delirious from my Christmas candy sugar buzz, or did President George W. Bush burn his Focus on the Family guest card earlier this month?

Asked about creation and evolution, Bush said: "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."

He added, "I happen to believe that evolution doesn't fully explain the mystery of life" [AP, "Bush Says Creation 'Not Incompatible' with Evolution," FoxNews.com, 2008.12.09

Now our "simple president" Bush is no more an authority on biology than James Dobson is on theology, but hearing Bush join Pope John Paul II in denying any need to wage holy war against science does my heart good.

Another goodie under the tree: President Bush rejects Biblical literalism!

Interviewer Cynthia McFadden asked Bush if the Bible was literally true.

"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,"' Bush said.

"It is hard for me to justify or prove the mystery of the Almighty in my life," he said. "All I can just tell you is that I got back into religion and I quit drinking shortly thereafter and I asked for help. ... I was a one-step program guy" [ibid.].

Is Bush saying that for him, religion is just about practical problem-solving? Amazing what a guy will say when he no longer has to court fundagelical voters.

And the kicker:

The president also said that he prays to the same God as those with different religious beliefs.

"I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people," Bush said [ibid.].

Man oh man! It sounds more and more like George W. Bush and Barack Hussein Obama have been reading from the same Bible all along!

Actually, that's exactly what some end-timers believe. Unfortunately, some keepers of the Rapture watch proceed to draw the flatly counterfactual conclusion that Bush and Obama aren't Christians.

"George Bush, Barack Obama, and Tony Blair... deadly enemies of true Christians." Uff da. Not a terribly loving Christmas spirit... and just plain silly. If the fundagelicals keep nattering about the fringes like this, they might find Bob Barr and Ralph Nader out-polling Sarah Palin in 2012.