من هناك
12-26-2007, 04:46 AM
War, injustice and terror is what the religion of Tony Blair is
about, evidently...
=====
Blair Admits Religion Role in Decisions
http://www.islamonline.net (http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1195032607748&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout)/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1195032607748&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout (http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1195032607748&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout)
LONDON — Former British prime minister Tony Blair has admitted for
the first time that religion was of major influence during his decade
in power.
"If I am honest about it, yes of course it was hugely important,"
Blair, who stepped down in June, said on The Blair Years, a BBC1
television documentary to be aired as of Sunday, November 25.
"You know you can't have a religious faith and it be an insignificant
aspect because it's, it's profound about you and about you as a human
being."
"As I always say there is no point in me denying it, I happen to have
religious conviction, I don't actually think there is anything wrong
in having religious conviction — on the contrary I think it is a
strength for people."
Blair, now a Middle East peace envoy, said religion was a point of "
strength" and a crucial component of his character.
"For me having faith was an important part of being able to do that,"
said Blair, a Protestant planning to convert to Roman Catholicism,
the denomination of his wife Cherie.
Blair said he consciously avoided speaking about his religious
beliefs during his 1997-2007 term in office.
"You talk about it in our system and frankly people do think you're a
nutter."
He said Britain's political system made it difficult for politicians
to talk publicly about religious faith.
"I mean if you are in the American political system or others then
you can talk about religious faith and people say yes that's fair
enough and it is something they respond to quite naturally."
Bible Man
European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, a cabinet minister
under Blair and one of his close confidants, said religion was "very,
very important" for the former prime minister.
"This is a man who takes a Bible with him wherever he goes and last
thing at night he will read from the Bible," Mandelson told the BBC
program.
Blair's former media advisor Alastair Campbell told the documentary
that Blair always asked his aides to find him a church to attend,
wherever he happened to be.
"I think his close circle always understood that there was a part of
him that was really, really important," he added.
"On that kind of spiritual level it did inform a lot of what he
talked about, what he read…what he felt was important."
Blair's opponents say his religious zeal blinded him to the
consequences of his actions, and point to his belief that his
decision to go to war would be judged by God.
Religious convictions were one of the commonalities between Blair and
war alley US President George Bush.
Once said that God had chosen him to lead the nation, Bush is known
for his openness about religion and keenness to show to the public
that he is an observant Evangelical Christian.
Under Bush, Evangelical Christians, the fastest-growing faith-based
group in the US, gained more political clout and religiously
affiliated charity groups got more government funding.
Former US president and Nobel Prize winner Jimmy Carter recently
accused the Bush administration of eliminating the line between
church and state.
Ex-president Bill Clinton and his secretary of state Madeleine
Albright also criticized Bush for invoking religion into his foreign
policies.
Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader, believes
that had Blair been explicit about the influence of his religious
convictions he would not have kept his post.
"The public might have been less willing to give him the triumph of
three consecutive general election victories if they'd known the
extent to which ethical values would overshadow pragmatism."
about, evidently...
=====
Blair Admits Religion Role in Decisions
http://www.islamonline.net (http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1195032607748&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout)/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1195032607748&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout (http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1195032607748&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout)
LONDON — Former British prime minister Tony Blair has admitted for
the first time that religion was of major influence during his decade
in power.
"If I am honest about it, yes of course it was hugely important,"
Blair, who stepped down in June, said on The Blair Years, a BBC1
television documentary to be aired as of Sunday, November 25.
"You know you can't have a religious faith and it be an insignificant
aspect because it's, it's profound about you and about you as a human
being."
"As I always say there is no point in me denying it, I happen to have
religious conviction, I don't actually think there is anything wrong
in having religious conviction — on the contrary I think it is a
strength for people."
Blair, now a Middle East peace envoy, said religion was a point of "
strength" and a crucial component of his character.
"For me having faith was an important part of being able to do that,"
said Blair, a Protestant planning to convert to Roman Catholicism,
the denomination of his wife Cherie.
Blair said he consciously avoided speaking about his religious
beliefs during his 1997-2007 term in office.
"You talk about it in our system and frankly people do think you're a
nutter."
He said Britain's political system made it difficult for politicians
to talk publicly about religious faith.
"I mean if you are in the American political system or others then
you can talk about religious faith and people say yes that's fair
enough and it is something they respond to quite naturally."
Bible Man
European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, a cabinet minister
under Blair and one of his close confidants, said religion was "very,
very important" for the former prime minister.
"This is a man who takes a Bible with him wherever he goes and last
thing at night he will read from the Bible," Mandelson told the BBC
program.
Blair's former media advisor Alastair Campbell told the documentary
that Blair always asked his aides to find him a church to attend,
wherever he happened to be.
"I think his close circle always understood that there was a part of
him that was really, really important," he added.
"On that kind of spiritual level it did inform a lot of what he
talked about, what he read…what he felt was important."
Blair's opponents say his religious zeal blinded him to the
consequences of his actions, and point to his belief that his
decision to go to war would be judged by God.
Religious convictions were one of the commonalities between Blair and
war alley US President George Bush.
Once said that God had chosen him to lead the nation, Bush is known
for his openness about religion and keenness to show to the public
that he is an observant Evangelical Christian.
Under Bush, Evangelical Christians, the fastest-growing faith-based
group in the US, gained more political clout and religiously
affiliated charity groups got more government funding.
Former US president and Nobel Prize winner Jimmy Carter recently
accused the Bush administration of eliminating the line between
church and state.
Ex-president Bill Clinton and his secretary of state Madeleine
Albright also criticized Bush for invoking religion into his foreign
policies.
Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader, believes
that had Blair been explicit about the influence of his religious
convictions he would not have kept his post.
"The public might have been less willing to give him the triumph of
three consecutive general election victories if they'd known the
extent to which ethical values would overshadow pragmatism."