The Missing Factor

Submitted by David Aronin (United States), Dec 1, 2005 at 15:07

Dr. Pipes,

Re: In regards to the Presidents treatment of Mr. Ali

I originally wrote the following comments in regards to the Presidents response to his critics - which up to that time had been largely defensive - and his position on immigration - where he had stressed compassion as well as security as a consideration of importance. I fully believe though that the points I made in those connections are equally applicable to the charitable manner with which he has treated persons such as President Clinton - as well As Mr. Ali. I.e. that he truly believes that it is incumbent upon him - rather than simply politic - to do so.

I don't believe that any analysis of the President's actions and motivations can be comprehensive without reference to the depth of his Christian faith, and to the central place it has in his life, and the shaping of his character - as he is now. No one who spends several hours a day on his knees in prayer can be adequately understood without taking that fact, and all its possible implications into account. To exactly what extent his reluctance to answer his critics in their own jagged coin is due to Old Testament and Christian Scriptural injunctions against saying the kinds of words and phrases that anger brings to mind - even when that anger is entirely justified and the words express the truth - is a matter of conjecture, but conjecture about the specifics of something that is almost certainly true to one degree or another. And, the President's faith is likely as not an active factor in many other facets of his political life as well - including those which have become vital points of contention between him and many of the conservatives who otherwise comprise the core of support for his Presidency. One such issue is immigration, where bread-and butter considerations concerning national-security, and whatever need there may actually be for a labour force that is willing to do necessary work that all but a handful of native Americans just will not do - and to do it for wages that will not further exacerbate the conditions already at work towards producing inflationary pressure - may not in the Presidents heart - negate the effect of the many reminders that "...The LORD your God...loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 10,19 Love ye therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."

What is odd to this commentator is the fact that - though one might very well expect that secularists would over-look the reality and importance of faith in shaping the President's political perspective - particularly those secularists among the Opposition - it is that - in regards to these and similar issues - that neglect is being committed by fellow conservatives - most of whom share his Judaic-Christian convictions - and many who profess to do so with a similar intensity and to a comparable depth. That fact now seems to be the real locus of the puzzle.

The article can be accessed in full - it is the November 4th entry, and it is the second article from the top - at:
http://red-state-blue.blogs.com/my_weblog/2005/week44/index.html

Thank you,

David Aronin

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