a much needed critique

I was glad to read, at least via the AP report, of the criticism Bush received at the christian Calvin College where he went to deliver the commencement speech at graduation there. It's one thing to have us on the left critiquing Bush, and it should continue because I believe that ultimately, if the country is to be shown the harm Bush is doing to the country and the world, it will derive from pressure from the left. But if Christians of conscience would step up and show other, more cautious Americans that to disagree with your President is not disloyal, perhaps there would be more pressure on the President and he would not be able to rely so dependably on the support of the religious right. Christ was not a company man. He was not unethical, he was not a social climber. He was not a rapacious exploiter of children or the aged or minorities.

But yet, for all the protest we here from Christians in the United States, you'd think he was all those things and that everyone agreed on that. It's huge that Christians will stand up and speak out against Bush's unethical policies. If people are to learn what Bush is really about, it's more likely that they'll listen to folks who they identify more with. Again, that's not to say that those of us on the left should not continue to bring out Bush's faults-we should, unceasingly-but if Christians of conscience would show the sort of conscience that Christ did, well, Bush's corrupt house of cards would collapse in a hurry.