Sweet Home Alabama?

[Recusant]

Maybe not, if you don't accept Jesus as your personal savior.

From examiner.com "Robert Bentley is right, there is no brotherhood":

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley told a church crowd just moments into his new administration that those who have not accepted Jesus as their Savior, are not his brothers and sisters, shocking some critics who questioned Tuesday whether he can be fair to non-Christians.

"Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother," Bentley said Monday, his inauguration day, according to The Birmingham News.

The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday called Bentley's remarks shocking.

No 1st Amendment issues here at all.

[Sophus]

Hmmm... so how does he treat people who aren't his siblings?

[Whitney]

I'm glad he's not my brother.

[Recusant]

...And of course now comes the inevitable apology.  I did a little transcript of the ABC video:

...what I would like to do is, apologize.  Uh, I would like to say that anyone who heard those words and felt disenfranchised; I want to say that I'm sorry.  And if, if you're, if you're not a person who can say that you're sorry, then you're not a very good leader. And uh, I wanna tell people that I'm sorry if I offended anyone in any way...  
(cut in video here)

Uh, I will never deny my faith.  I will never do that. And uh I do have core beliefs. And uh I will never deny that. And I will die with those core beliefs, okay?  But, I don't wanna be harmful towards anyone else, uh in anything that I may say, so you, you have to be careful.  One of the reasons I was elected Governor is I spoke very openly, very honestly about everything.  Do I get in trouble about speaking openly and honestly about everything? Sure, I do. Uh, but I also realize that sometimes, uh, you, you just have to choose your words, and you have to do it correctly.  We're all humans; we all make mistakes in the way that we say things.  And they can be misinterpreted, uh in the way that you say those things.  You just have to be careful.  Uh, will I deny that I am a Christian, that I am a born-again Christian?  Absolutely not, and I never will deny that.

We mustn't forget: The Governor did reach out; basically asking all unbelievers to join him in accepting Jesus as their personal savior.  That's being very inclusive, isn't it?  And now he's apologized for offending anyone.

 There's really nothing intrinsically wrong with having strong beliefs and being guided by them; it's when you preach about those beliefs as an elected official that the separation of church and state starts to become blurred.  But I don't think that the Governor thinks the preaching was wrong; it was his choice of words that he regrets.  M'kay then.

[The Magic Pudding]

I like the other Alabama song more, you know the one that starts with a melancholy Oh-oh-oh Alabama.

[Whitney]

and uh, my PR guy, and uh, said, and uh I should, and uh, apologize, and uh and uh so I did

[Stevil]

And now he's apologized for offending anyone.

No, he hasn't apologised.

He hasn't admitted that his statement was offensive. The "if" is his disclaimer. He doesn't think he has offended anyone otherwise he would have said I am sorry for the people I have offended with my statement.

[joeactor]

And now he's apologized for offending anyone.

No, he hasn't apologised.

He hasn't admitted that his statement was offensive. The "if" is his disclaimer. He doesn't think he has offended anyone otherwise he would have said I am sorry for the people I have offended with my statement.

Yeah... he might as well have said "I'm sorry you were offended."

Agreed... not an apology.  He just got caught.  The thoughts are still there.

Time for the Thought Police!

[terranus]

*Yawn*

Welcome to the South.