George Bush is a Christian? Who Knew?

Grant McCracken has some interesting thoughts on George W. Bush and his most outspoken critics:

It's hard not to notice that no one takes Bush's Christianity seriously, unless, in my opinion, they take it too seriously. No one seems ever to read Bush's behavior as if he were being animated by Christian beliefs or practices. Instead, people treat his Christianity as if it were somehow "part of the act," an opportunistic play for sun belt, heart land, anti-coastal voters. No one seems to believe that George W. Bush is ever actually listening when in church. He's there as part of the theatre of his presidency, to show that he stands with certain conservative verities and against the godless Dems.

I, for one, can't believe how sloppy, self serving and just plain reckless this is as a piece of analysis. Hey, it might be right . . . but I don't believe I have heard anyone make the argument, let alone demonstrate the case. It's as if people want this to be true so badly they mean to repeat it until alternative ideas are rendered unthinkable. (This is one way of making sure the "truth will out," by killing, that is to say, all competitors. Call this the Tudor model of the social construction of reality.)

I'm not particularly a fan of Bush, although I was relieved to see Al Gore and John Kerry kept out of the White House (the lesser of three evils, I guess). This is an interesting point, that for too many Bush detractors, they are not accurately addressing the real man. Of course, calling him "Chimpy McBusHitler" is perhaps more of a give away in that sense.