from an article in the Telegraph:
The former Prime Minister's faith is claimed to have influenced all his key policy decisions and to have given him an unshakeable conviction that he was right.
John Burton, Mr Blair's political agent in his Sedgefield constituency for 24 years, says that Labour's most successful ever leader – in terms of elections won – was driven by the belief that "good should triumph over evil".
"It's very simple to explain the idea of Blair the Warrior," he says. "It was part of Tony living out his faith."
Mr Blair has previously admitted that he was influenced by his Christian faith, but Mr Burton reveals for the first time the strength of his religious zeal.
Mr Burton makes the comments in a book he has written, and which is published this week, called "We Don't Do God".
In it he portrays a prime minister determined to follow a Christian agenda despite attempts to silence him from talking about his faith."
quedula says:-
Many of us had niggling suspicions about this even in the days leading up to the war, but this was also a time when we would not accept that the incidence of belief and influence of religion in society was anything but vanishingly small. How wrong we appear to have been. If this report is accurate it reveals an absolutely disgraceful state-of-affairs. The UK's participation in the Iraq war was not to protect our borders or our citizens. It was based on lies and manipulations of evidence to fulfil the agenda of a christian fanatic. How, in the 21st. century, in an advanced, supposedly civilised and democratic country can we have allowed this to happen?
So Blair does God after all. Or God does him and he likes it. Anyway, I remember watching an interview in 2007 I think, when he said that he decided to invade Iraq after speaking to God or something. That's the kind of justification a killing madman would give; "God made me do it, your Honour". Appropriate, but lame. He did not think about Iraq, he prayed about it, he did not listen to the public opinion or expert's advises, he asked his imaginary friend for help. Is he so well connected? Pathetic.
ReplyDeleteI think you are going off the deep end here a bit.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone was suggesting that Blair was hearing voices, God's or otherwise. He went to war in Iraq because he believed it was the right thing to do. Even if you pray, you still have to make the decision - you may take a view based on Biblical principles (which are often up for debate anyway) - but you still have to come to your own decision based on the facts in front of you.
Christians pray for wisdom, they may or may not receive it, but in either case they rarely are given a moment to moment guide from on high.
Blair made that call, disagree with it if you want, many do. But trying to say that Blair was obliged to go to war due to his faith is ludicrous.
Many Christian voices out there think his faith should have _forbidden_ the war!
What we reproach to Blair is not that he prayed, but that he used his faith as a moral jsutification for the invasion of Iraq. And yes, many Christians were against it. Judging by Tony Blair's actions and defence of his actions, he was better connected to God than them, plain and simple. When it comes to Iraq, Blair showed that he prefered to follow his faith than reason. How convenient then to say that when reason proved that the war was a terrible mistake, faith justified it.
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