Bush's religion

Remarks from a recent press release....

Q -- Ron Reagan's remarks at the former President's funeral --

PRESIDENT BUSH: I didn't hear them.

What'd I tell you?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Whether or not a politician should wear their -- I've always said I think it's very important for someone not to try to take the speck out of somebody else's eye when they may have a log in their own. In other words, I'm very mindful about saying, you know, oh, vote for me, I'm more religious than my neighbor. And I think it's -- I think it's perfectly -- I think it's important for people of religion to serve. I think it is very important for people who are serving to make sure there is a separation of church and state.

Like this perhaps?

Thwarted by Congress, the president has sidestepped lawmakers with executive orders and regulations to give religious organizations equal footing in competing for federal contracts. He is still fighting for legislation that would give religious groups access to federal funds as long as their services are available to anyone.

  Houston Chronicle article

Washington -- President Bush is setting up faith-based centers at three more government agencies. Their purpose is to help religious charities compete for government grants for delivering social services.

The president made the announcement at a national conference on his faith-based initiative in Washington.

  KXAN article

President Bush's re-election campaign is trying to recruit supporters from 1,600 religious congregations in Pennsylvania - a political push that critics said Wednesday could cost churches their tax breaks.

An e-mail from the campaign's Pennsylvania office, obtained by The Associated Press, urges churchgoers to help organize "Friendly Congregations" where supporters can meet regularly to sign up voters and spread the Bush word.

  Register Guard article

"During his June 4 visit, Bush asked the Vatican to push the American Catholic bishops to be more aggressive politically on family and life issues, especially a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman." A Vatican official was quoted as saying that Bush complained that "Not all the American bishops are with me."

  Common Dreams

P.S. Those Bush quotes are from the press conference Bubbleboy held with Afghan President Karzai. After they made their little speeches, Bush said, now we'll take questions like people do in democratic countries. After the second question, he then wondered if Karzai wouldn't like to go have lunch instead. But Karzai was game for more questions - which were for Bush, of course. Damn that Arab! (You only have to read Bush transcripts when he's not scripted to get a sense of just how much trouble we're in here.)

P.P.S. Some good news on the church/state issue:

The House Ways and Means Committee has killed a proposal that was intended to give clergy members freedom to endorse candidates for political office without endangering the tax-exempt status of their congregations.

... Watchdog groups -- including Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Interfaith Alliance and People for the American Way -- opposed the provision as a step toward dismantling the constitutional ban on state-sponsored religion. Some also called it a "back-door" attempt to help reelect President Bush, whose campaign is focusing on churches as potential centers of support.

But the proposal's fate was sealed when religious groups, including the Southern Baptist Convention and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, also expressed strong reservations.

...House Republican leaders had attached the proposal to H.R. 4520, the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, a bill that would eliminate some federal subsidies to manufacturers and cut corporate tax rates. The measure was removed by a voice vote on an amendment from Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.).

  WaPo article