For Bill Keller: A Score of Religious Questions for President Obama

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I posted a link this morning. After reading Keller’s piece calling for more careful examination of people’s religious beliefs I have to agree with Ace, he may regret this.

Keller takes pains to assure readers he is not calling for a new litmus test, he just has questions. Funny this is only coming to him now that the race is on and it’s GOP candidates that are front and center. I don’t recall him demanding this much insight into Obama’s relationship with Wright or Pfleger. In fact, I seem to remember the NY Times apologizing for blowing those stories.

Contrary to what Keller seems to think there are still many religious questions that one might ask of the President, not all of which will endear him to particular segments of the electorate. Here’s a sample of questions Keller might ask the President (but which, notably, he hasn’t).

1. Do you believe the God of the Christian Bible is the same as the God of the Koran? Does this view influence your foreign policy?
2. Do you believe in hell and if so who is damned? Do you believe in heaven and if so what are the qualifications for entry? Do either of these views influence your interaction with people and or foreign leaders?
3. Do you believe salvation is individual or collective? From what passages do you take this view?
4. Do you believe, as some liberals churchmen do (including some you’ve consulted with), that socialism is the system most compatible with the Gospels? Does this influence your public policy and if so how?
5. Are the stories in Genesis (the Garden of Eden, the Flood, etc.) just stories, actual histories or something else? How does this influence your faith in the modern world?
6. Can you list the 10 commandements? Do you think this is something a Christian (or religious Jew) ought to be able to do?
7. When was the last time you read the New Testament and what did you take from it?
8. Do you read the Bible to your children (or did you when they were younger)?
9. Have you read any books about theology, historical or otherwise? What did you learn?
10. How do you integrate your faith with a scientific worldview including belief in evolution?
11. How does Catholic theology differ significantly from Protestant theology in your view and which view of the Bible do you tend to prefer and why?
12. Does the Bible influence your views on gay marriage?
13. What is the Gospel in a few words? How does it affect you personally? As President?
14. Do you believe Jesus was God? Do you believe Mohammed was a prophet of God?
15. Do you believe Christ will return to earth in the future?
16. Do you believe in a future end of days aka Armageddon? Do these beliefs influence your view of Israel and/or foreign policy?
17. Who is your favorite old or new testament figure excluding Jesus and why?
18. Is there anything in the Bible that you disagree with? What is it and why?
19. How do you see your faith and the faith of Christians around the world benefiting humanity?
20. Why don’t you go to church very often?

Any one of these could be viewed as a gotcha question to a certain segment of society. Questions 1 and 14 are sure to be international news. For that matter, so will question 11. But, hey, Bill Keller says we need to ask more specific religious questions so let’s ask.

Personally, I doubt Obama could answer half of these questions with anything approaching confidence. 

But then, I don’t expect him to know chapter and verse or even have detailed reasons for his beliefs. He’s an attorney and a layman, not a priest. Still, by Keller’s standard there are all sorts of potential intersections with public policy here. And yet, somehow I doubt Bill Keller cares.

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How to destroy a Nation: Hire marxists to take down non-state media

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Ann Coulter on #OWS: "As always, the mob is serving liberalism. "

'OCCUPY WALL STREET' [HEARTS] WALL STREET

October 19, 2011

The worst thing about Occupy Wall Street is that it's ruining a good cause: hating Wall Street. Just when opposing Wall Street was gaining momentum, these brain-dead zombies are forcing us to choose between thieving bankers and them.

If the Flea Party were really concerned about the greedy "Wall Street 1 Percent," shifting money around to make themselves richer and everyone else poorer, their No. 1 target should be George Soros.

Of course, we don't know exactly how much money Soros has, since he keeps all his money in offshore bank accounts protected by Sen. Chuck Schumer (Democrat).

We do know that Soros has been convicted of insider trading. And we know that his general modus operandi is to run around the world panicking sovereign nations, so he can pocket the difference when their currencies collapse.

But the Occupy Wall Street protesters love Soros! It's Fox News they hate.

Last week, the great minds of the OWS movement, bored with playing bocce ball and getting stoned, decided to protest at the homes of Wall Street's robber barons. They then proceeded to walk right past George Soros' apartment building in order to protest at the homes of Rupert Murdoch and David Koch.

THEY'RE NOT WALL STREET!

You may not like Koch and Murdoch's products -- fertilizer and media -- but neither one has anything to do with Wall Street. Unlike money manipulators such as John Corzine (Democrat), Robert Rubin (Democrat) and George Soros (Democrat and Obama's biggest supporter), Koch and Murdoch make money from corporations that actually produce something.

They take risks, make things and get menaced by the government. Wall Street schemers take no risks, produce nothing and get bailed out by the government.

Even assuming, for purposes of argument, that Koch and Murdoch are as evil as these morons seems to think, the protesters call their demonstration "Occupy Wall Street," not "Occupy Businesses Whose Products We Disapprove Of."

This would be like protesting the Holocaust by walking past Adolf Hitler's house and protesting at O.J. Simpson's house.

The Flea Partiers try to win good will by pretending to protest "Wall Street" -- but they ignore Wall Street's villains. They claim to speak for 99 percent of Americans, but their sponsor, George Soros, would be delighted if America collapsed and the 99 percent were impoverished. All he cares about is his own power and pocketbook.

Recall that when the markets first opened after 9/11 and little grandmothers in Iowa were patriotically calling their local savings banks to find out how to buy a share of stock so that the American stock market wouldn't crash because of the terrorist attack, Soros said: Sell, sell, sell!

Now he's helping the cretinous Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Liberals love mob movements because you can't get mobs to think, which is perfect for Democratic ideas.

Do the Wall Street protesters even know that Obama got more money from Wall Street than any other candidate, ever?

These pea-brained protesters either admire or have never heard of the most egregious of the Wall Street looters and their co-conspirators: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, Jim Johnson, Rahm Emanuel, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. Democrats all!

They have no idea that George Soros has a hand-in-glove relationship with the Democrats, having bought a whole slew of them, including Obama, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Charles Schumer, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Patrick Leahy, John Corzine, Barbara Boxer, Mary Landrieu, as well as the Democratic National Committee.

Hamptons-vacationing, helicopter-flying, Russell Simmons party-attending New York bankers always give about 80 percent of their political contributions to Democrats.

And the Democrats always return the favor.

In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton repeatedly bailed out his friends at Goldman Sachs and Citibank under the tutelage of his Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin -- former chairman of Goldman Sachs. U.S. taxpayers were fleeced to prop up nations that were about to default on risky bonds purchased by Goldman and Citibank, such as Mexico (in 1995), Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea (in 1997), and Russia (in 1998).

Of course, if the bonds turned a profit, only Goldman and Citibank would benefit.

This is the Democrats' idea of "capitalism": Rich, Democratic-donating bankers get to engage in wild risk-taking; if the bets pay off, they keep all the winnings, but if the bets lose, they still keep the winnings, and the taxpayers get stuck with the bill.

Democrats are firm believers in the welfare state for their own constituents, whether that's a crack addict mother of five or a Wall Street banker.

Are the protesters aware that the Democrats' 2010 "financial reform" bill provides for future bailouts of reckless banks? Goldman Sachs and Citibank strongly supported the bill.

The protesters don't care -- they have no interest in actual malfeasance by actual Wall Street bankers. They're too busy denouncing Fox News. (Which did not, incidentally, receive a taxpayer-funded bailout.)

And these are the intellectuals of the Occupy Wall Street movement! Never mind the ones who just think stuff should be free and America is the moral equivalent of al-Qaida. They either know that they are benefiting Wall Street looters or are utterly brainless.

Given a choice between Wall Street looters and protesters defecating in the street, throwing rocks at police and chanting "F—k the USA," most people will choose Wall Street.

As always, the mob is serving liberalism.

COPYRIGHT 2011 ANN COULTER
DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK
1130 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64106

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For Bill Keller: A Score of Religious Questions for President Obama

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John on August 25, 2011 at 1:52 pm

I posted a link this morning. After reading Keller’s piece calling for more careful examination of people’s religious beliefs I have to agree with Ace, he may regret this.

Keller takes pains to assure readers he is not calling for a new litmus test, he just has questions. Funny this is only coming to him now that the race is on and it’s GOP candidates that are front and center. I don’t recall him demanding this much insight into Obama’s relationship with Wright or Pfleger. In fact, I seem to remember the NY Times apologizing for blowing those stories.

Contrary to what Keller seems to think there are still many religious questions that one might ask of the President, not all of which will endear him to particular segments of the electorate. Here’s a sample of questions Keller might ask the President (but which, notably, he hasn’t).

1. Do you believe the God of the Christian Bible is the same as the God of the Koran? Does this view influence your foreign policy?
2. Do you believe in hell and if so who is damned? Do you believe in heaven and if so what are the qualifications for entry? Do either of these views influence your interaction with people and or foreign leaders?
3. Do you believe salvation is individual or collective? From what passages do you take this view?
4. Do you believe, as some liberals churchmen do (including some you’ve consulted with), that socialism is the system most compatible with the Gospels? Does this influence your public policy and if so how?
5. Are the stories in Genesis (the Garden of Eden, the Flood, etc.) just stories, actual histories or something else? How does this influence your faith in the modern world?
6. Can you list the 10 commandements? Do you think this is something a Christian (or religious Jew) ought to be able to do?
7. When was the last time you read the New Testament and what did you take from it?
8. Do you read the Bible to your children (or did you when they were younger)?
9. Have you read any books about theology, historical or otherwise? What did you learn?
10. How do you integrate your faith with a scientific worldview including belief in evolution?
11. How does Catholic theology differ significantly from Protestant theology in your view and which view of the Bible do you tend to prefer and why?
12. Does the Bible influence your views on gay marriage?
13. What is the Gospel in a few words? How does it affect you personally? As President?
14. Do you believe Jesus was God? Do you believe Mohammed was a prophet of God?
15. Do you believe Christ will return to earth in the future?
16. Do you believe in a future end of days aka Armageddon? Do these beliefs influence your view of Israel and/or foreign policy?
17. Who is your favorite old or new testament figure excluding Jesus and why?
18. Is there anything in the Bible that you disagree with? What is it and why?
19. How do you see your faith and the faith of Christians around the world benefiting humanity?
20. Why don’t you go to church very often?

Any one of these could be viewed as a gotcha question to a certain segment of society. Questions 1 and 14 are sure to be international news. For that matter, so will question 11. But, hey, Bill Keller says we need to ask more specific religious questions so let’s ask.

Personally, I doubt Obama could answer half of these questions with anything approaching confidence. But then, I don’t expect him to know chapter and verse or even have detailed reasons for his beliefs. He’s an attorney and a layman, not a priest. Still, by Keller’s standard there are all sorts of potential intersections with public policy here. And yet, somehow I doubt Bill Keller cares.

Read More