[.ca] Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction (ISBN 0743287134)

God the father, God the son, God the holy spirit, God the politician:
David Kuo is an evangelical Christian. In his new book: Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction, he discusses his job in the White House of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He thought it was a dream come true. A chance to work for a president whose vision about compassionate conservatism would be matched with sweeping legislation to help the poor. But he blames President Bush for the compassion agenda that has fallen short of its promise. David Kuo also says the White House was a place that cynically used religion for political ends and that White House aides ridiculed the very Christian leaders who helped bring Mr. Bush to office. He also mentions that the White House staffers would roll their eyes at evangelicals, calling them "nuts" and "goofy." Specifically speaking, David Kuo says people in the White House political affairs office referred to Pat Robertson as "insane," Jerry Falwell as "ridiculous," and that James Dobson "had to be controlled." And President Bush, he writes, talked about his compassion agenda, but never really fought for it. He goes on to make numeerous claims about the White House: * The President of the United States promised he would be the leading lobbying on behalf of the poor. But didn't follow through. * As for 9/11, he was there before it happened. The trend before 9/11 was...president makes a big announcement and nothing happens. * Bush proposed for the first time that he would spend $8 billion dollars on programs for the poor. But after the election the office dropped very quickly down the list of priorities. * In the first two years, only $60 million went to the poor. That is less than one percent of Bush's promise. David Kuo is an insider of the White House. Even before he became the number two guy in the White House faith-based office, he had a long resume in the world of Christian conservatives. This message that has been sent out to Christians for a long time now is that Jesus came primarily for a political agenda, and recently primarily a right-wing political agenda--as if this culture war is a war for God. And it is not a war for God, it's a war for politics. Help raise awareness; support cancer research!