In “Putting a Face on the War” which ran last week in your paper, Kara Soufer writes, “All of our religions, even Bush’s Christianity, teaches the truth.” This is not exactly true. All religions have some truth, but not all teach the entire truth. If they did, they would all be consistent and would all teach the same exact things about life, death, and morality. However, my letter today is to correct the myth that George Bush is a Christian. He may call himself one, but he is not behaving like one because he is waging violent, immoral, and imperialistic actions against others.
He is also painfully unaware of what Jesus taught about things like pre-emptive and preventative self-defense. Jesus Christ denounced both of these actions as being evil. What happened on 9/11 may have changed all of our lives forever, but there is one thing that will never change, and that is the truth of what Jesus taught. One of the reasons why Bush is so confused may be found in a quote of his that was taken from the L.A. Times. In defense of his actions Bush was citing a verse from John 1:5. Bush’s version is “and the light shines in the darkness. And the darkness will not overcome it.” This is a distorted version that is the result of so many different denominations altering modern bibles. The true passage is speaking of Jesus Christ who is “the light” and it says, “And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” This is an entirely different meaning and it most definitely applies to George Bush who does not seem to comprehend what Jesus Christ taught.
Because of these biblical alterations it is very possible that George Bush does not even know what scripture truly says and this may even shed some light on the very puzzling fact that many other Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians support the attack on Iraq; which Christ would have condemned. I have to wonder what other converted New Testament verses may have drastically contributed to Bush’s total disregard for what Christianity is based upon. It has been reported by several sources that Bush is using religion in his stance about war. He must educate himself on what Christianity truly teaches and stands for before he calls himself a follower of Christ. More importantly, for all of our sake, he had better do it before he makes any further decisions which cause more global chaos, more innocent deaths, and endanger so many lives around the world.
Alethea Guthrie