Thanks, Governor Bentley
In a world that's already got a lot of problems, we did not need the governor of Alabama to make it quite so easy for headline-writers the globe around to make Americans look nuts, did we? Now I get to explain to Turkish people all day that no, the Christians aren't planning to kill you, no, this isn't the way all Christians think, yes, I know lots of Christians and feel completely safe around them, really, I'm not naive about this, Christians these days tend to be meek as lambs, actually, they're some of the loveliest and most decent people I know, you just have to believe me ...
And seriously, I'm going to have to explain that.
I wasn't offended by the governor's remarks. I don't actually want my elected officials to be my brothers and my sisters. I don't want a religious or a faux-kinship relationship with my elected officials at all: I want them to govern effectively in a secular state, where their powers are strictly limited, and otherwise stay off my back. I know Christians well enough, and am sufficiently familiar with Christian theology, to appreciate that the governor meant well and was in fact expressing a generous sentiment. But how naive and obtuse do you have to be not to realize that comments like those will freak a lot of people out, create a serious distraction from governing, and be used as propaganda by people who mean America harm?
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Oct '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
Oh, please. This is a standard evangelical trope. The amazing thing is that the media is so disconnected with the way ordinary people in America (and Latin America, and much of Africa, and Korea, and...) think and talk that they (pretend to be) shocked.
The times are a changin'. It's OK to shoot animals on television. It's OK to talk like a normal person. It's OK to ignore the people who pretend to be freaked out. It's OK to just not treat this faux outrage as a serious distraction from governing. And if this is the best the anti-US propagandists have (did you mean the AP specifically?), all the better for the US.
Jan '11
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
Well, it may be a 'standard Evangelical trope' but -- as a Christian believer -- this kind of stuff from a person in a political leadership position makes me absolutely crazy.
Dec '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
Govenor Bentley please stay off my side. Annoying and distracting all in one.
Dec '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
OK Claire, so you're more that "just a journalist". You're an international and inter-faith ambassador of goodwill, building bridges, enhancing understanding, and lots of other good things.
Thank you.
Nov '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
I actually think we need more people like him. Everybody seems so quick to go into full panic mode over the most trivial of observations; maybe it's time to grow a few intellectual calluses.
Sep '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
Another out of context quote that is bent and twisted by a left leaning AP into something it is not. The implication that he is unfair to non-Born-Again-Christians in his governance does not even follow from the statement.
How about if he said people who do not have the same parents as me are not my brother and sister? Would that bring into question his ability to fairly govern people who are outside his family?
My point then is he if free to call whoever he wants his "brother and sister". Before the AP makes the claim that there is a problem, there needs to be (some) evidence that he treats the "non-relatives" in a harmful way.
Politicians are human and have personal, familial, and religious connections outside politics. That is how it should be.
Jul '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
They can fuss about it when the next construction permit for a church is issued in Turkey. Or Saudi Arabia, for that matter.
If Islam is so hot, what are they afraid of?
May '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
Agreed. But I also agree with genferei that this says more about the liberal media than anything else.
Sep '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
The governor made the remarks in a church and they were appropriate for that setting. His political opponents have chosen to fain insult, the press has chosen to exploit, and the liberal bloggers are once again experiencing an episode of orgasmic outrage. I would like to note that if the pack of parasites that prowl your profession had not chosen to exploit; his remarks would have went unnoticed. If an elected official expressing honest thoughts in an appropriate setting has become, “naïve and obtuse” it is this cast of characters who have made it so. Personally I find the response to his remarks to be boorish.
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
Aaron Miller
Agreed. But I also agree with genferei that this says more about the liberal media than anything else. · Jan 20 at 9:02am
And what if it does? We're living in the real world, not some ideal perfect-fairness fantasy-world. It's perfectly legitimate to ask elected officials to have some sense of media-management. Until someone comes up with a solution to media bias that doesn't involve tearing up the Constitution, people in positions keenly followed by the media--like the governor of an American state--need to be aware that this kind of comment--on inaugural day, no less--is not going to be universally understood as a statement of love. It just isn't. He's the governor now every time he opens his mouth, and that's what he signed up for. This was totally predictable, but he either didn't realize that--too naive for the job, in that case--or care, which is irresponsible.
Oct '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
The point is not to accept the world as it is, but to change it. Sixty years ago this would have been unexceptionable. Something changed, and someone changed it. Time to change it again. Crawling to the feigned outrage of the coastal 'elites' hasn't worked. Accepting the denormalisation of religion hasn't worked. Apologising for being a normal American hasn't worked. So don't. Let the AP etc. get worked up. If anyone who wasn't going to believe something bad about the US anyway actually read the story they'd see 'A man in a church said he wished those who didn't believe would join him in believing.' Something they see every day wherever they live. Except NY, LA, SF, of course.
May '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
I don't know what the big deal is, he's paraphrasing Bible passages. In Matthew 12, Jesus said "49 Pointing to his disciples, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” People got a lot of things wrong about Jesus Christ too, mostly because they only heard what they wanted to hear, instead of listening with an open heart. People twisted what he said, too. It's Alabama, and in a lot of evangelical circles, believers are encouraged never to miss an opportunity to share a message of salvation. I've heard people make the case at funerals and weddings. People who suggest he was inciting violence know very little about the ministry of Jesus. I appreciate that in a world of sound bites, people can be easily misunderstood. But I also think people too easily make a case to misunderstand someone's intent. We could all stand to give people the benefit of the doubt a little more often.
Oct '10
Re: Thanks, Governor Bentley
As an atheist I don't extract anything from the article that in any way alarms me or discomforts me. If a governor is supposed to hang up his religious beliefs upon assuming the post, what was that ruckus in 1776 all about any way?
Isn't that same sentiment codified several ways under Sharia?