Carpe Datum

I Minded That a Lot!

Here is a pretty funny interview given by Al Franken to Beliefnet about religion and the Bush administration. Some of the best excerpts:

What do you make of the use of religious language by President Bush?

Sometimes itís ok and appropriate for a president to use God. I probably wouldnít if I were president. He wears his religion on his sleeve and yet this is the least Christian administration I can think of, in terms of Christ certainly as I understand it.

How so?

Well, he seems to have very little regard for the poor and the meekÖ
Thereíd been this article about Bush & God in Newsweek. It describes this Bible group that Don Evans [Bushís Commerce Secretary and longtime friend] got Bush into when he stopped drinking. [Newsweek writer Howard] Fineman describes it as scriptural boot camp. Ten guys and each week theyíd study a chapter of a book over two years and analyze them line by line. Over two years, they read Luke and Acts.

So I was at the White House Correspondents dinner and found myself seated at the table next to Don Evans. I was all set to ask about the tax cut. And I said, ìSo you know what Acts is about?î

And I saw sort of this blank thing go over his eyes and then sort of a quick look of panic and he said, ìNo.î And I was absolutely shocked. And I said, ìWell your tax cut so heavily favors the rich, and Acts is so socialist almost.î

And he said, ìBut, ah! Acts contains the Parable of the Talents.î Now just as it so happens, I knew that actually wasnít true. I knew the parable of talents was from Matthew. And he said, ìAre you sure?î And I said, ìYeah.î It was just a complete fluke that I knew that. My son the year before had been assigned some New Testament reading in high schools as part of a civilization class and talents was part of what he was assigned.

But I realized that these guys didnít read these books line by line for two years and discuss them for two years ñ- they couldnít have! I know these guys arenít the smartest guys in the world but theyíre not that dumb. I remember stuff I read in high school that I didnít really read that well but we discussed in class for a like a weekó-ya know what I mean?

I just have to believe that what he told Fineman was a lie. That was the only conclusion I could come to. Then I talked to Fineman and he remembered talking to Bush during the primaries in New Hampshire. Howard asked him what selection of the Bible heíd read that day because the campaign was saying that Governor Bush read the Bible every day.

And we tracked down the transcript and Bush was totally defensive and it seemed to me from the transcript that he really didnít read the Bible every day. He just said he did ñ- which is, like, a very weird thing to lie about. [...]

And then I also read a thing like when he was asked about whether Jews went to heaven and he said, ìNo.î

Did you mind that?

Yes, I minded that a lot! And how the press saw that as a huge gaffe and how Karl Rove thought that was like the best thing he said in the campaign, because it just assured the Christian right that he was one of them. Thatís how these guys think. [...]

Whatís wrong with the religious right?

They sometimes forget we donít live in a theocracy. They can be in the public square and express their opinion but to expect other people to alter their behavior to say that, for example, that homosexuality is immoral because it says so in the BibleÖI mean it also says you canít eat pork. I donít see a lot of orthodox Jews saying people who eat pork shouldn't be allowed to get insurance benefits.

I mean thereís stuff in the bible how about how to sell your daughter. They kind of are pretty selective about what is important and what isnít. I think slavery is ok in the bible. Itís stupid! Itís like the dumbest thing that they want to proscribe other peopleís behavior based on their belief.

The whole interview is pretty good. I'm reading Franken's book now, too. I hope I can finish it within the next 12 hours.