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October 3, 2006
George W. Bush -- II
The basic text on the religiousity of the current president of the United States and its influence on his policy remains Ron Suskind's article two years ago. Here he tried to explain Mr. Bush's remarkable confidence in his "gut" and his "instinct":
All of this [as well as] the certainty and religiosity -connects to a single word, ''faith".... That a deep Christian faith illuminated the personal journey of George W. Bush is common knowledge. But faith has also shaped his presidency in profound, nonreligious ways. The president has demanded unquestioning faith from his followers, his staff, his senior aides and his kindred in the Republican Party. Once he makes a decision -- often swiftly, based on a creed or moral position -- he expects complete faith in its rightness.
It is, of course, deeply upsetting to contemplate the wrongness of all the decisions Mr. Bush has thusly made.
Posted by Mitchell Stephens at October 3, 2006 1:09 PM
Comments
I think both Bush's religious certainty and nonreligious certainty are more narcissism than faith. Bush is certain both that G-d speaks through him and that what he thinks/believes is always right. He refuses, like most narcissists, to accept any challenge to his "perfection" and would deem any such challenge as a threat. His displays of violent temper when faced with challenges to his views are very much in keeping with profound narcissism according to recent studies. Personally, I think narcissism is the root of all extremism.
Posted by: Melinda Barton at October 5, 2006 11:15 AM
