[Griff]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The move of the population away from organized religion began long before Bush came on the scene.

Definitely.

Maybe more people moved away when the GOP expressed their overwhelming belief in faith based programs to assist in the issues of the charity.

I think the outrage there was more out of the Democrats anti-religion corner but subsidizing religious organizations regardless of mission is going to be controversial. Since the opposition was so loud Obama probably needs to reposition his party as less anti-religion.

I can't recall anything other than a few sound bites that proclaimed faith to pursue the WOT. But given that many people were religious it sounds like a logical thing to do when you are about to go into armed conflict. I never heard any of the rally cries when I was on active duty at that time which ever invoked some kind of use of organized religion to "amp up" the troops. Maybe you had a different experience when you were serving at the time, or someone in your family, or even a close friend. I never heard it.

I meant amp up the civilian population to support a war of choice. ..."this crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take awhile."

The problem people have with organized religion in this country has very little to do with some fantasy that it was highjacked by the GOP.

Everyone who has left a church has their own reasons. Mine had to due mostly with perceived close-mindedness, sharp movement away from Vatican II, adherence to dogma over reason, covering up clergy abuse, putting the Church before ethics, denial of the legitimacy of other religions, and miss-use of the pulpit to organize for the GOP. My Catholic diocese is fully in the pocket of the Republican Party with the bishop forcing the priests to read his political tracts and threatened denial of communion to Biden.

Seems to me that Obama and his reverend’s sound bite of “GOD DAMM AMERICA” Wright did more to move people away from organized religion than Bush did in 8 years.

I never saw that having an impact but then I never attended his particular church or denomination.