Am I right to be worried by this? I don't want to deny that we can have messages from God, but frankly; who tesetd whether these were the word of the Lord, where is the discernment process? The issue here is not so much that God might speak to leaders but that they might misunderstand and not only misuse their authority but claim divine legitimacy for so doing. When Charles I of England tried it there was a revolution started by the extreme protestants ....
George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month.
The other thing is that to be told to do something is one thing, not to wait for the 'how' is another. No-one disagrees that to do those things is a good objective that may even have divine sanction; it's the methods that there are problems with. Bush is in effect saying that it's okay to lie, to misappropriate government resources for private gain, and so forth, because God told him to. I really don't think so. I may grant a divine urge to put things right, but I imagine that the old thing about the means must be congruent with the ends still holds. Bush only heard part of the message I'll warrant. I fear judgement awaits the rest of what happened.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq':On Del.icio.us: Bush, God, mission, Palestine, Iraq, terrorism, Israel Afghanistan
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