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January 06, 2004

How NOT to win in the South

Obviously, the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is not going to have any thing good to say about "Democrat" candidates, but this is some funny shit. Dean just can't fucking help himself.

Governor Dean attempted to try out his new use of religious language when speaking to an African-American church in Columbia, South Carolina. The Boston Globe reports that Dean changed his tone of voice as well as his message as he told the congregation that "in this house of the Lord, we know that the power rests in God's hands and in Jesus' hands for helping us. But the power also is on this, God's earth--Remember Jesus said, 'render unto God those things that are God's but unto Caesar those things that are Caesar's.'" If that sounds a bit confusing in terms of religious conviction, Dean's other statements will just add to the problem. He told the Boston reporter that "Christ was someone who sought out people who were disenfranchised, people who were left behind." He went on to say, "He fought against self-righteousness of people who had everything...He was a person who set an extraordinary example that has lasted 2000 years, which is pretty inspiring when you think about it." Pretty inspiring when you think about it? That statement is more remarkable for what it doesn't say--when you think about it.

Dean explains that his previous reticence in speaking of his Christian faith is because he holds to "the Northeast tradition," of privacy. "People in the Northeast don't talk about their religion. It's a very personal private matter, and that's the tradition I was brought up in." He has also explained that his new-found need to talk about religion is due to his discovery of the exotic territory known as the South. "I'm still learning a lot about faith in the South and how important it is," he said. Next thing you know, Dr. Dean will be talking about Kudzu and chomping chewing tobacco at the NASCAR track. Southerners are not likely to appreciate Dean's patronizing approach to both their region and religion....

Gov. Dean may claim to be a "pretty religious" person and a church member, but he doesn't seem to know much about Christianity. Oddly, he doesn't seem to understand how little he knows. Talking to a reporter from The New York Times last week, Dean was asked to name his favorite New Testament book. He named the book of Job, which is, of course, not in the New Testament. The candidate had just claimed to know something about the Bible. Reflecting on a trip to Israel, Dean said, "If you know much about the Bible--which I do--to see and be in a place where Christ was and understand the intimate history of what was going on 2,000 years ago is an exceptional experience."

Dean also said that he doesn't like the way the book ends, apparently thinking that the book leaves Job in torment and despair. When reminded that the book of Job is found in the Old Testament and that Job is returned to health, family, and prosperity, Dean claimed that there are various versions of Job: "It's been a long time since I looked at this, but it's believed that was added much, much later. Many people believe that the original ending was about the power of God and the power of God was almighty and all knowing and it wasn't necessary that everybody was going to be redeemed." There is simply no intelligent response to this gibberish.

Newsweek's Howard Fineman asked Dean, "Do you see Jesus Christ as the son of God and believe in him as the route to salvation and eternal life?" Dean answered: "I certainly see him as the son of God. I think whether I'm saved or not is not gonna be up to me."

Posted by Mike at January 6, 2004 01:21 PM

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