Fear and Trembling

Huffington Post has it, and the BBC will soon broadcast it. All I can add is: it's worse than I thought.

Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"

Abu Mazen was at the same meeting and recounts how President Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."

I have nothing against men of faith holding high office. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were both made compassionate, I believe, in part by their faith (Bill may honor his Christian upbringing more in the breach than the act, but its stamp on him is indelible). So what bothers me here is not Bush's faith; it is the failure of his faith to engender any humility.

Abraham didn't leave Chaldea because he knew God was to be trusted, and didn't drag Isaac up Moriah based on blind trust that nothing bad would happen. It was Abraham Paul had in mind when he told the church in Philippi to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
It is that lack of "fear and trembling" in Bush that worries me.

The only question left is: will this "cross the Pond" and get picked up by American news? And if it does, will it be taken seriously? Or just discounted again as Bush pandering to Dobson's constituency?

UPDATE: This may yet take on the sillier aspects of "Did not!" "Did too!":

The White House has dismissed as "absurd" allegations made in a BBC TV series that President Bush claimed God told him to invade Iraq.

"He's never made such comments," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

But considering how much of a statement against interest it is, and that Bush promised the Palestinian who is reporting it a Palestinian state, I still come down in favor of: "Did too!"