Gerhard Schroeder, the former German chancellor, has written in a new book that George W. Bush's frequent
references to God in their meetings before the Iraq war had made him
wary of Mr. Bush's political decisions. Mr. Schroeder also suggested
that America's Christian conservatives are not much different than
Islamists who impose their beliefs on entire nations.
Mr. Schroeder wrote in an advance excerpt of his memoirs that
Germany had stood by its vow of "unlimited solidarity" after the
September 11 attacks. But Germany stayed out of Iraq, causing a breach
in U.S.-Germany ties.
He wrote in "Decisions: My Life in Politics," excerpted
yesterday in Der Spiegel magazine, that he was alarmed by Mr. Bush's
talk of God, which made him fear religion influenced decisions.
"What worried me, despite a relaxed atmosphere to our talks,
and to a certain degree what made me skeptical was how much it came
through that this president saw himself as 'God-fearing' and saw that
as the highest authority," Mr. Schroeder wrote.
Mr. Schroeder, a Social Democrat who left politics after his
party lost a 2005 election to end his seven years in power, said he had
no qualms with Mr. Bush's Christian faith, but could not escape a fear
that religion was a driving force behind his decisions.
The former chancellor also took aim at America's Christian conservatives, Reuters news agency reports.
"Quite rightly, we criticize that in most Islamic states the
role of religion in society and the secular character of the legal
system are not clearly separated," he said. "But we haven't taken note
as readily of the U.S. Christian fundamentalists and their
interpretation of the Bible that show similar tendencies."
2 comments:
God save us from religious people. They're all dangerous.
it does not seem to matter what religion.
there always seems to be a group of,usually self appointed,leaders who twist the beliefs of the religion to suit their own ends.
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