What what what?!?
Posted on 10/24/2004 9:01:34 PM PDT by Libloather
Kerry's Latest Attacks on Bush Borrow a Page From Scripture
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: October 25, 2004
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 24 - Appealing to late-deciding voters in explicitly religious terms, Senator John Kerry used the Bible on Sunday to accuse President Bush of trying to scare America, and said his own Catholicism moved him to help those in need but not to "write every doctrine into law."
"The Scripture teaches us - John says, 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,' " Mr. Kerry said, alluding to Mr. Bush's strategy of portraying Mr. Kerry as too weak to defend against a terrorist attack. "What these folks want you to do is be afraid. Everything that they're trying to do is scare America."
Rebuking one of the most openly religious presidents in recent history, Mr. Kerry said that Christians believed in caring for the sick, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry and stopping violence but that the administration was not heeding those teachings.
Mr. Kerry's South Florida swing came on a day when Mr. Bush did not campaign until late in the day, in Alamogordo, N.M., near the site of the nuclear tests that led to the end of World War II. Mr. Bush argued that the war of this generation could only come to an end under his leadership.
"He considers the war on terror primarily an intelligence-gathering and law enforcement operation," Mr. Bush said of his rival, as several thousand booed the notion. "You cannot win a war if you are not convinced that you are even in one."
The two candidates continued a series of sharp exchanges about who would prove tougher on terror - exchanges that have flared whenever either has acknowledged that eradicating terrorism altogether is highly unlikely.
In an interview on Saturday with the conservative commentator Sean Hannity of Fox News, Mr. Bush seemed to forget his lines briefly when he was asked whether the nation would always have to live with a terrorist threat. "Whether or not we can be ever fully safe is up - you know, is up in the air," Mr. Bush said, according to a transcript.
Mr. Kerry pounced on the remark late in the day, telling thousands in Boca Raton, Fla.: "You make me president of the United States, we're going to win the war on terror. It's not going to be up in the air whether or not we make America safe."
Mr. Kerry's Bible-based thrust, at first from the pulpit of a black church here and later in a lengthy speech on values, was the latest effort by the Democratic candidate, who is generally reticent about his religious beliefs, to demonstrate his core principles to religious voters.
At the very least, Mr. Kerry demonstrated a wide liturgical reach, quoting from Matthew, James, John, Luke, the Ten Commandments and "Amazing Grace" before recalling for cheering Jews in Boca Raton how he once shouted "the Israeli people lives" in Hebrew atop Masada.
In a particularly partisan talk from the pulpit of the Mount Hermon A.M.E. Church here, Mr. Kerry said Mr. Bush had chosen profits for drug companies over lower prices for the elderly and had spurned veterans and the unemployed while giving tax cuts to the rich.
"Oh, no, they didn't choose the least among us, they chose the most powerful among us," he said. "They keep on thinking it's the most powerful who deserve the most, some kind of entitlement."
But it was in his afternoon speech in a concert hall here, where Mr. Kerry did not mention Mr. Bush's name except to ask for prayers for whomever won the election, that his audience erupted in thunderous chants of "No more Bush!"
In the speech, Mr. Kerry alluded to his own religious upbringing, which he said was "put to the test" in Vietnam, as some of his closest friends were killed in combat.
"Faith was as much a part of our daily lives as the battle was," he said. "I prayed, as we all did. And I even questioned how all the terrible things that I saw could fit into God's plan. But I got through it. And I came home with a sense of hope and a belief in a higher purpose."
Mr. Kerry said his faith meant "holding to a vision of a society of the common good."
"Catholics call this solidarity," he said, adding that as president, "I will put middle-class families, and those who are struggling to join the middle class, ahead of the interests of the well-to-do and the well-connected."
A senior adviser, Mike McCurry, said the speech was aimed at middle-of-the-road, churchgoing voters who like Mr. Kerry's talk of change but are unsure about him personally.
"We know that Americans are a very faithful people; the vast majority believe in God and worship," Mr. McCurry said. "Over 70 percent tell pollsters routinely that they want a president who is deeply grounded in faith and speaking to those issues."
Mr. Kerry also answered those Roman Catholics who have said that it is a sin to vote for politicians who, like him, support abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research.
"I know there are some bishops who have suggested that as a public official I must cast votes or take public positions, on issues like a woman's right to choose or stem-cell research, that carry out the tenets of the Catholic Church," he said, as audience members shouted "No!"
"I love my church; I respect the bishops; but I respectfully disagree," he said to a standing ovation.
The speech was the sixth of a series of "closing arguments" that Mr. Kerry is delivering on major issues in the campaign. His last, on Tuesday in Green Bay, Wis., will cover domestic security, aides said.
Aides said Mr. Kerry would campaign in Ohio or Pennsylvania almost every day between now and the election and said the campaign was dominating the airwaves with far more commercials than Mr. Bush in Florida and Ohio. They canceled plans for a Tuesday trip to Colorado. On Monday, Mr. Kerry is heading to Michigan, which was believed to be relatively safe for him, but where a new poll on Sunday showed Mr. Bush with a five-point lead.
In Alamogordo, meanwhile, as Mr. Bush spoke under a brilliant sun, castigating Mr. Kerry for everything from his defense policy to Social Security, the president's communications director, Dan Bartlett, told reporters that at the end of the week the Bush campaign would release its last commercial, a direct appeal from Mr. Bush for a second term.
"In a very emotional, heartfelt way," Mr. Bartlett said, voters "will see why they have rallied around the president in a post-9/11 world."
Mr. Bartlett also argued that Hawaii "is becoming competitive" but indicated that Mr. Bush planned no last-minute visit there. Instead, he is headed to Colorado, Iowa and Wisconsin on Monday.
Since when - last week?
Sorry, Mr. Kerry, you don't get to pick and choose which doctrine you wish to follow. You may not be able to legislate it, but your should lead by example if you follow your religion. Hypocrite!!!!!
Lots of facts and quotes about the president-wannabe at the John F. Kerry Timeline.
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He's a poseur and a chameleon. He uses his religion when it suits him and disses it too when it suits him.
Puke Bucket Alert.
This is all about getting street cred with the ultar-secularists at NYT.
This jerk is too funny.
Absolutely! BTW he seems to spend an amazing number of Sundays attending non-Catholic services, does he EVER attend Mass?
Cripes, he's quoting Hannity now?
Of course, the Times would never have hired any fact-checkers capable of verifying this.
What what what?!?
That is the key word. The Senator USED the Bible to suit his political calculations. There will be no appealing to Christians from someone that isn't sincere in their faith. He is mocking God.
The little secret, which isn't a secret at all except to these secular elites, is that Christians WILL and HAVE voted for people that didn't profess faith. I'm open to voting for someone that doesn't own to a faith, though I prefer someone committed to Christ. So long as the person respects the dominant role of the Judeo-Christian influence in our country from the start and is respectful of those beliefs, I have no issue with them. When they seek to distort, use, lie and prevent those beliefs from being exercised, well, then I develop a problem.
the president's communications director, Dan Bartlett, told reporters that at the end of the week the Bush campaign would release its last commercial, a direct appeal from Mr. Bush for a second term. "In a very emotional, heartfelt way," Mr. Bartlett said, voters "will see why they have rallied around the president in a post-9/11 world."
Hmm. This is ...appealing. Provided it is done in the right way, this may be the REAL October Surprise. Sincerity. Open communication with the American people. I look forward to seeing this.
He better not tell Lawrence O'Donnell that he believes in God.
"Senator John Kerry used the Bible."
"Of course, the Times would never have hired any fact-checkers capable of verifying this."
Well, it's rather obvious that he "used" it, if you think about it...:)
matthew 7:15-16a: "watch out for false prophets. they come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. by their fruit you will know them"
i wonder if this means anything to kerry?
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
It's always important to read Scripture in context. The Senator seems to have skipped over some important verses which precede his citation:
"Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.'" -- John 14:23-24
John was pointing out the importance of obedience in truly following Christ and gaining "the peace which passes all understanding." This loving obedience seems a far cry from the Senator's approach to the teachings of his faith and his church.
He is quoting Jesus from the Bible, the next line goes like this "You believe in God, believe also in me." Well, the disciples believed in Jesus, but I am sorry, no true evangelical is going to believe in Mr. Kerry. His manipulation of scripture for his own ends repulses those who hold the Bible to be Word of God.
I hope he gives that page back to whoever he took it from when he's done....
Seriously though this is a good sign. Kerry has to shoot at the religious crowd. NOTE: Quoting scripture is not generally a tactic for attracting Catholics. He's so scared of the Protestant Christian Conservative block he's trying to look like a Baptist preacher.
The more he tries this the more his base will run from him.
In the end all things to all people may leave him with almost no one.
On October 19, on the America The Right Way thread, this was reported:
CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS IS REPORTING THAT SEN. JOHN EFFIN KERRY HAS BEEN EXCOMMUNICATED FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
There is a link there, so if you go to ATRW, October 19, you will find more information.
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