[Peace-discuss] Theology

[C. G. Estabrook]

[I've suggested that several of our colleagues seem to insist on bringing
religion into the ethical and political questions that we've been
discussing, and I hate to encourage that, but the following theological
disquisition is unavoidable, given its source.  The author is Terry Jones,
of Monty Python. This piece has something of the air of Chaplin's "Great
Dictator." I've thought for a while that the poets get there first; maybe
it's the comics. --CGE]

	<http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1332876,00.html
	George, God here ...
	President Bush has words with the Almighty
	Friday October 22, 2004

	"George?"
	"Yes?"
	"This is God here ..."
	"Hi, God. What can I do for you?"
	"I want you to stop this Iraq thing, George."
	"But you told me to do it, God!"
	"No I didn't, George ..."
	"But you did! You spoke to me through Karl, Rumsey and Dick and
all those other really clever guys!"
	"How did you know it was me talking, George?"
	"Instinct, God. I just knew it!"
	"Do you really think I'd want you to unleash all this horror and
bloodshed on another lot of human beings?"
	"But they're Muslims! They don't believe in You, God!"
	"But, George, they do believe in me. Jews, Christians and Moslems
all worship the same Me! Didn't you do comparative theology at school,
George?"
	"No, of course not! You think I'm some sort of peace-waving
dope-headed liberal faggot-lover, God?"
	"No, of course not, George, but I expect you to know something
about the people you're bombing."
	"Oh, come on! I know it's right to bomb those oily rag-heads until
there's not one left to wipe a wrench on!"
	"How do you know that, George?"
	"Cause You tell me that's what I should do, God."
	"George, I do not tell you to do that!"
	"But I hear You, God! You speak to me! You tell me what to do! You
tell me what is Right and what is Wrong! That's why I don't need to listen
to any soft-baked, mealy-mouthed liberal Kerry-pickers!"
	"George, you're deluding yourself."
	"God! How can you say that? I got some of the most powerful people
on this planet down on their knees every day in the White House just
a-praying to You! Now are you gonna tell me You ain't listening? Because
if You ain't listening, God, that's Your problem - not mine!"
	"George, of course I'm listening - it's you who is not listening
to Me!"
	"And I'll tell you why! 'Cause You ain't addressing me right."
	"What d'you mean, you jumped-up little Ivy League draft-dodger?"
	"If you're so 'omniscient', God, you oughta know that you gotta go
through Karl Rove, John Ashcroft, Rumsey and Dick ... those fellas know
what they're talking about! I can't listen to just any deity who can pick
up the phone!"
	"But, I'm God, George!"
	"Does Karl say you are?"
	"But why do you believe Karl?"
	"Because my gut tells me he's right!"
	"Listen, you ignorant little pinch-eyed Billy Graham convert!
Can't you get it into your head that I'm God and I'm telling you to stop
all this 'pre-emptive strike' nonsense! Stop destroying Iraq! Stop
supporting that monster Sharon! Stop picking a fight with the only other
human beings on the planet that believe in Me! You're leading the world
into unbelievable chaos and horror!"
	"That's enough, God! That's just the sort of defeatist crap that I
won't allow in the White House! Get out of here!"
	"I cannot believe I'm hearing this, George."
	"Well you better start believing, God, because this is the new
reality. Don'tcha know that a recent Gallup poll shows that 42% of
Americans identify themselves as 'born again'? That cuts across
Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, white and black! This is a real
political power base, God, and you'd better believe it!"
	"Look, all I'm asking is for you to show a little compassion to
your fellow human beings!"
	"I'm not going to debate this with you, God! You're beginning to
sound like you belong to the reality-based community!"
	"What the hell does that mean?"
	"Well by the 'reality-based community', we mean people who believe
that solutions emerge from their judicious study of discernible reality."
	"Sounds fair enough..."
	"But, as one of my advisors told Ron Suskind of the Wall Street
Journal: 'The reality-based community is not the way the world really
works any more. We're an empire now and, when we act, we create our own
reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will
- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too,
and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you,
all of you, will be left to just study what we do'."
	"You mean...you don't give a damn, George?"
	"I mean You speak through me, God, not the other way round! Is
that clear?"
	"Yes, Mr President."

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