BLAIR: "MENTION GOD AND YOU'RE A 'NUTTER' "

[tomday]

Thought that our US friends might be interested to hear of today's newspaper headline in the UK regarding their President's former best friend.

The Telegraph reports:
"The former prime minister's comments came as he admitted for the first time that his faith was "hugely important" in influencing his decisions during his decade in power at Number 10, including going to war with Iraq in 2003.    
Blair was reluctant to discuss his faith during his time in office
 
Mr Blair complained that he had been unable to follow the example of US politicians, such as President George W. Bush, in being open about his faith because people in Britain regarded religion with suspicion.

"It's difficult if you talk about religious faith in our political system," Mr Blair said. "If you are in the American political system or others then you can talk about religious faith and people say 'yes, that's fair enough' and it is something they respond to quite naturally.

"You talk about it in our system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter. I mean … you may go off and sit in the corner and … commune with the man upstairs and then come back and say 'right, I've been told the answer and that's it'."


Quite an admission for a man who announced his conversion to catholicism after giving up his office as PM!  It shows just how different attitudes are over this side of the pond (thank goodness!).

check out the full article at:  www.telegraph.co.uk

[Will]

First off? Excellent use of the word "nutter". 10 points.

On the one hand, I'm glad that he's able to stay subjective on the whole religion thing. But on the other hand, he played lap dog despite knowing Bush was a few pews short of a cathedral. That's more than a little troubling.

[Mister Joy]

It doesn't surprise me.

You talk about it in our system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter.

A perfectly valid excuse for covering stuff up in a democracy. :roll: Politicians should use it more often: "If I'd told the public that I was planning to reduce the legal age of consent to 4, they'd have thought I was bonkers." "Oh fair enough then, Mr. File."

[LSchune]

It doesn't surprise me.

You talk about it in our system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter.

A perfectly valid excuse for covering stuff up in a democracy. :roll: Politicians should use it more often: "If I'd told the public that I was planning to reduce the legal age of consent to 4, they'd have thought I was bonkers." "Oh fair enough then, Mr. File."

What a way to cover all his bases, huh.

[myleviathan]

"The former prime minister's comments came as he admitted for the first time that his faith was "hugely important" in influencing his decisions during his decade in power at Number 10, including going to war with Iraq in 2003.

If this is true, and not just liberal propaganda (sarcasm), then that's a huge confession which should go in the history books of another war excited by religious beliefs. I wonder the source of the quote... where, when, context, etc.

[tomday]

myleviathan, it is most definitely true! you might find the following extract from the subject newspaper article interesting:

"His comments, which will be broadcast next Sunday in a BBC1 television documentary, The Blair Years, have been welcomed by leading Church figures, who fear that the rise of secularism is pushing religion to the margins of society.

The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev John Sentamu, said: "Mr Blair's comments highlight the need for greater recognition to be given to the role faith has played in shaping our country. Those secularists who would dismiss faith as nothing more than a private affair are profoundly mistaken in their understanding of faith."

However, Mr Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, has been attacked by commentators who say that religion should be separated from politics and by those who feel that many of his decisions betrayed the Christian community."

[myleviathan]

"Mr Blair's comments highlight the need for greater recognition to be given to the role faith has played in shaping our country. Those secularists who would dismiss faith as nothing more than a private affair are profoundly mistaken in their understanding of faith."

This is a good idea, so in the future people may further realize the death and destruction caused by the union of faith and executive authority. Maybe one day everybody will get the fact that a secular government that respects human rights is the best thing that's ever happened to advance social wellbeing on this planet.

[wadderus]

i hope the day will come when the arabic leaders will be a shamed to talk abt religion
 :oops:
i wonder of his religious views had any thing to do with IRAQ

[Mister Joy]

Nah, I'd just put that down to him being a sycophantic slug when it came to Bush. Brown says he's going to distance himself from the American president, thankfully. Not that he can be trusted.