7.11.2004

Question: Which of Christ's Beatitudes Applies to Bush?

I happened to see Tom Schaller's post ("God Squad") at Daily Kos, and as he reminded me of the eight beatitudes of Jesus, the very first thing that struck me was how they applied (or did not) to our president. Here they are:

THE EIGHT BEATITUDES OF JESUS

    Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
    Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
    Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
    Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
    Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
    Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
    Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
    Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Gospel of Matthew 5:3-10)


Let's take these one by one:

THE EIGHT BEATITUDES OF JESUS

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Nope. Doesn't fit Bush at all. He may be poor of mind but not spirit, and he's certainly not poor of wallet although he's not exactly philanthropic.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Mourn? Name a service person's funeral he's attended. None. One rumor persists, although he denies the coke charge completely and says he stopped all drinking and drugging more than a quarter century ago, that he bought coke at his father's inauguration and was stoned for his paternal grandmother's funeral. And no, I don't mean coke as in "I've rather have a Pepsi."

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Meek? In the words of Bush - far from the front lines - "bring 'em on."

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Bush does not hunger or thirst for anything. He has everything and damn does he feel entitled to his largesse, too.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Remember how he joked to fellow conservative Tucker Carlson, mocking Karla Fay Tucker's conversion to Christ, as she was about to be executed in Texas under his watch? And that's just one small example.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

I'm sorry but I see nothing pure in the president's heart or mind.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

Bush and his cronies call him a peacemaker, but he's anything but. If he could find a way to drop MOABs on blue states, he'd do it. And at least twice.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Gospel of Matthew 5:3-10)

How can he be persecuted? Mr. Bush never takes responsibility for any of his errors.