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October 22, 2006

Two German Chancellors: One Scary President

While German Chancellor Angela Merkel's public relationship with President Bush has been dominated by awkwardness, such as when he became inexplicably obsessed with a barbecued pig and later gave Merkel an inappropriate massage, it seems Germany's last Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, also had some deep concerns about our President. In his new book, he reveals how following 9/11, though he was fully prepared to stand beside his country's ally, the United States, he was very concerned about Bush's constant references to his Christian faith in connection with the response to the attack.

Schroeder said he could not reconcile himself with the feeling that religion was the driving force behind many of Bush's political decisions.

"What bothered me, and in a certain way made me suspicious despite the relaxed atmosphere, was again and again in our discussions how much this president described himself as 'God-fearing,'" Schroeder wrote, adding he is a firm believer in the separation of church and state.

Schroeder accused some elements in U.S. as being hypocritical when it comes to secularism in government.

"We rightly criticize that in most Islamic states, the role of religion for society and the character of the rule of law are not clearly separated," Schroeder wrote. "But we fail to recognize that in the USA, the Christian fundamentalists and their interpretation of the Bible have similar tendencies."

With so many voices out there whispering "theocracy," isn't it time people here at home started realizing that we're fighting an enemy in the Middle East that is, in fact, representative of where we ourselves are headed? Or are we too busy laughing at pig jokes and blushing at massages to recognize the very real danger bearing down on our democracy - that is, the Christian terrorist that we might produce someday if we continue down this path?

Posted by Becky at October 22, 2006 02:22 PM