The B I B L E , Yes that's... and George Bush

Bush Says He Doubts Bible Literally True

AP

posted: 3 HOURS 51 MINUTES AGO

comments: 232

filed under: National News, Political News

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WASHINGTON (Dec. 9) -- President George W. Bush said his belief that God created the world is not incompatible with scientific proof of evolution.

In an interview with ABC's "Nightline" on Monday, the president also said he probably is not a literalist when reading the Bible although an individual can learn a great deal from it, including the New Testament teaching that God sent his only son.

Bush's Views on Religion

Saul Loeb, AFP / Getty Images

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President George W. Bush, here at an appearance Monday in McLean, Va., said in an interview on ABC's 'Nightline' that the Bible is "probably not" literally true -- even though "I think you can learn a lot from it." He cited the New Testament as an example, saying "the important lesson is, 'God sent a son.'"

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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."

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

What’s Your Take?

What do you think about George W. Bush’s views on religion? Do you think they’ve had a major impact on his policies as president? Read Answers (8)

"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."

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.

When asked whether he thought he would have become president had it not been for his faith, Bush said: "I don't know; it's hard to tell. I do know that I would have been — I'm pretty confident I would have been a pretty selfish person."

Bush said he is often asked whether he thinks he was chosen by God to be president.

"I just, I can't go there," he said. "I'm not that confident in knowing, you know, the Almighty, to be able to say, Yeah, God wanted me of all the other people."

He also said the decision to go to war in Iraq was not connected to his religious beliefs.

"I did it based upon the need to protect the American people from harm," Bush said.

"You can't look at the decision to go into Iraq apart from, you know, what happened on Sept. 11. It was not a religious decision," he said. "I don't view this as a war of religion. I view this as a war of good, decent people of all faiths against people who murder innocent people to achieve a political objective."

He said he felt like God was with him as he made big decisions, but that the decisions were his.

"George W. Bush has to make these decisions."

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2008-12-09 03:08:27

Obama birth certifcate as American as apple pie and Chevrolet

Urban Legends

Email: Barack Obama Isn't a Natural-Born Citizen

By David Emery, About.com

Summary: Email rumor claims that Barack Obama is ineligible to become president because according to the laws in effect at the time of his birth he is not a natural-born citizen of the United States.

Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: June 2008
Status: False

Email example contributed by Carol D., June 8, 2008:

CAN OBAMA BE PRESIDENT?

It seems that Barack Obama is not qualified to be president after all for the following reason:

Barack Obama is not legally a U.S. natural-born citizen according to the law on the books at the time of his birth, which falls between "December 24, 1952 to November 13, 1986?

Presidential office requires a natural-born citizen if the child was not born to two U.S. citizen parents, which of course is what exempts John McCain though he was born in the Panama Canal. US Law very clearly stipulates: ".If only one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least ten years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16." Barack Obama's father was not a U.S. citizen and Obama's mother was only 18 when Obama was born, which means though she had been a U.S. citizen for 10 years, (or citizen perhaps because of Hawai'i being a territory) the mother fails the test for being so for at least 5 years **prior to** Barack Obama's birth, but *after* age 16. It doesn't matter *after*.

In essence, she was not old enough to qualify her son for automatic U.S. citizenship. At most, there were only 2 years elapsed since his mother turned 16 at the time of Barack Obama's birth when she was 18 in Hawai'i. His mother would have needed to have been 16+5= 21 years old, at the time of Barack Obama's birth for him to have been a natural-born citizen. As aformentioned, she was a young college student at the time and was not. Barack Obama was already 3 years old at that time his mother would have needed to have waited to have him as the only U.S. Cizen parent. Obama instead should have been naturalized, but even then, that would still disqualify him from holding the office.

*** Naturalized citizens are ineligible to hold the office of President. ***

Though Barack Obama was sent back to Hawaii at age 10, all the other info does not matter because his mother is the one who needed to have been a U.S. citzen for 10 years prior to his birth on August 4, 1961, with 5 of those years being after age 16. Further, Obama may have had to have remained in the country for some time to protect any citizenship he would have had, rather than living in Indonesia.

Now you can see why Obama's aides stopped his speech about how we technically have more than 50 states, because it would have led to this discovery. This is very clear cut and a blaring violation of U.S. election law. I think the Gov. of California would be very insterested in knowing this if Obama were elected President without being a natural-born U.S. citizen, and it would set precedence. Stay tuned to your TV sets because I suspect some of this information will be leaking through over the next several days.

Comments: False. Barack Obama is, in fact, a natural-born citizen of the United States, for the simple reason that he was born on American soil (in Hawaii, two years after it acquired statehood). The age and citizenship status of Obama's parents at the time have no bearing on Obama's own citizenship.

Any confusion on this point is the result of misunderstanding the legal concepts of jus sanguinis (right of blood) and jus soli (right of birthplace). Here is how the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service explains the difference:

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship at birth to almost all individuals born in the United States or in U.S. jurisdictions, according to the principle of jus soli. Certain individuals born in the United States, such as children of foreign heads of state or children of foreign diplomats, do not obtain U.S. citizenship under jus soli.

Certain individuals born outside of the United States are born citizens because of their parents, according to the principle of jus sanguinis (which holds that the country of citizenship of a child is the same as that of his / her parents).

It is a fact that under the provisions of Article Two of the U.S. Constitution naturalized citizens are ineligible to hold the office of president, but this disqualification does not apply to Barack Obama, who has been a citizen since birth.

UPDATE: Is Barack Obama's birth certificate invalid?

Self-styled "experts" have questioned the validity of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate as posted online, but after examining the actual physical document, investigators at Factcheck.org (Annenberg Public Policy Center) concluded it is authentic. The state of Hawaii has also affirmed¹ its validity. Read the details...²

UPDATE: Berg v. Obama lawsuit dismissed

A federal lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania by attorney Philip J. Berg charged that Obama was either born or naturalized in a foreign country and is therefore ineligible for the office of President. The case was thrown out of court on Friday, October 24, 2008 by U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick, who concluded in his decision that Berg's arguments were, among other things, "frivolous and not worthy of discussion." Read the details...³

Email This Article⁴

Sources and further reading:

Hawaii Officials Declare Obama Birth Certificate Genuine⁵
Associated Press, 31 October 2008

Is Barack Obama a U.S. Citizen? Yes.⁶
The Swamp (Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2008

Born in the U.S.A. - The Truth About Obama's Birth Certificate⁷
FactCheck.org, 21 August 2008

Judge Rejects Montco Lawyer's Bid to Have Obama Removed from Ballot⁸
Philadelphia Daily News, 25 October 2008

Barack Obama's Birth Certificate⁹
BarackObama.com

Citizenship of Children¹⁰
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Citizenship¹¹
American Presidency (Grolier Online), 2006

Article Two of the U.S. Constitution¹²
About.com: U.S. Government Info

14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution¹³
Wikipedia

Last updated: 10/26/08

This About.com page has been optimized for print. To view this page in its original form, please visit: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_citizen.htm

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letter for World Aids Day 2008

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Presiding Bishop issues letter for World AIDS Day 2008

December 01, 2008 [Episcopal News Service] In a letter for World AIDS Day 2008, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori encourages Episcopalians "to remember, pray, and work together to alleviate the suffering inflicted" by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and "to advocate for strong U.S. responses ... by signing up for the Episcopal Public Policy Network at www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn."

The full text of the Presiding Bishop's letter follows.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The first day of December is marked as World AIDS Day, and has been observed since 1988. Episcopalians join billions of people around the world to remember the devastation caused by the AIDS pandemic over the past generation, and to recommit to ensuring a future without AIDS for generations still to come. As our church year begins, it is especially appropriate to remember, pray, and work together to alleviate the suffering inflicted by this disease and its consequences.

As Episcopalians, we understand that we are part of a body that has AIDS – both the Body of Christ and the larger body of the family of God. More than half of our worldwide Anglican Communion lives in countries destabilized by epidemic rates of HIV infection, including several dioceses of The Episcopal Church. Parish communities in the United States have been responding to HIV and AIDS for more than 25 years.

In the United States, this year's commemoration comes in a moment of transition for American democracy. A new President and new Congress will shape this nation's response to HIV/AIDS at home and around the world. Many significant challenges face America's leaders in the coming years.

We must find ways to build on successes in fighting HIV and AIDS in the developing world. American leadership since 2003 has brought life-saving treatment to more than 1.7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (in contrast to 50,000 in 2002), while supporting more than 33 million counseling and testing sessions and providing prevention services for nearly 13 million pregnant women. Still, more than 6,000 people continue to die each day as a result of the pandemic, and infection rates in some of the hardest-hit places continue to grow. Earlier this year, Congress and the President pledged significantly increased funding, and renewed strategies, for the global fight against AIDS. It will be up to the new Congress and Administration to keep the promises that have been made by their predecessors.

The incoming Administration of President-elect Obama is soliciting suggestions from citizens for national priorities in the year ahead at www.change.gov. I urge all Episcopalians living in the United States to ask President-elect Obama and his Administration to make the fight against AIDS at home and around the world a priority, even in difficult economic times. The security and well-being of the world depends on health and healing for all. You can join your voice with those of other Episcopalians who will take action in the months and years ahead to advocate for strong U.S. responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by signing up for the Episcopal Public Policy Network at www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn.

I commend to Episcopalians the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition, www.neac.org, a grassroots group that has been working in Episcopal communities for more than two decades to support caregivers, give guidance on prevention, and advocate for a more compassionate AIDS policy. In particular, I draw your attention to the online quiz NEAC has developed for Episcopal communities to commemorate this World AIDS Day.

Christians around the world marked the First Sunday of Advent yesterday as a season of hope and expectation, remembering that the "Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings" (Malachi 4:2). On this World AIDS Day, I pray that the God who tents with humanity will raise us up to work together to make the divine dream of healing and abundant life for all creation a reality – may your kingdom come, O Lord, and speedily.

Your servant in Christ,

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church

Archbishop of Canterbury's World AIDS Day video
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The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
- Samuel Johnson

And that's the rest of the story!