By The Skillful And Sustained Use Of Propaganda, One Can Make A People See Even Heaven As Hell Or An Extremely Wretched Life As Paradise. Adolf Hitler, And That Is What The Republicans Have Been Doing;

Republicans Manifesto: More Religion, More Guns, More Wars, More Tax Cuts For The Rich And Nothing For The Middle-Class, Students And The Poor.

 

Agenda, Increase The Age To 70 For Social Security Benefits, Privatize Medicaid And Medicaid, Repeal Obamacare, Cut Food Stamps And Other Social Services For The Needy. Why Do Middle Class And Poor People Vote Republican?

 

 

 

Jeb Bush delivered a forceful defense of religious freedom from a secular government during a speech at an evangelical university on Saturday, deploring the rise of “coercive federal power” under President Obama that he said was seeking to impose progressive dogma on the country’s faithful.

 

But in an intriguing omission at a school known for its long-time opposition to same-sex unions, Mr. Bush did not mention the raging debate over the legalization of gay marriage, or express his opposition to it, even as he touched on the environment, sex trafficking and abortion.

 

 

In his commencement address to students at Liberty University, a Virginia school well known for hosting Republican presidents and presidential candidates, Mr. Bush bemoaned that “federal authorities are demanding obedience, in complete disregard of religious conscience — and in a free society, the answer is no.”

 

 

Mr. Bush suggested that, were he to return to office as an elected official, his Christian faith would be an inevitable force in his decision-making.

 

“It can be a touchy subject, and I am asked sometimes whether I would ever allow my decisions in government to be influenced by my Christian faith,” he told the students. “Whenever I hear this, I know what they want me to say. The simple and safe reply is, ‘No. Never. Of course not.’ If the game is political correctness, that’s the answer that moves you to the next round.”

 

But Mr. Bush called that flawed thinking. “The mistake is to confuse points of theology with moral principles that are knowable to reason as well as by faith,” he said.

 

He deplored a “false narrative that casts religious Americans as intolerant scolds, running around trying to impose their views on everyone.”

 

His speech made a pointed but affirmative case for Christianity as a positive force for freedom and compassion. There is, he said, “no more powerful or liberating influence” and praised its “most dynamic, inclusive and joyful message.”

 

Mr. Bush spoke against the “hostile caricature” of Christians and seemed to implore the audience to treat him as an ambassador to skeptical outsiders who are misinformed about the faithful.

 

Intriguingly, Mr. Bush made no reference to his own Catholicism. He converted to the faith from Episcopalianism in the 1990s.

 

The Bush family has a long history with Liberty University. Both his father and brother — presidents both — have spoken there. The current president of the university, Jerry Falwell Jr., made light of that tradition on Saturday.

 

“Please tell your mother,” he told Mr. Bush, “I still don’t believe we’ve had enough Bushes speak here at Liberty.”

 

Mr. Bush came armed with a joke of his own. Mr. Falwell’s brother Jonathan, who attended the speech and spoke with Mr. Bush on Saturday, shares a distinction with Mr. Bush: Both his father and brother are presidents (albeit of a university).

 

“Somehow,” quipped Mr. Bush, “I don’t know what it was –  we really hit it off.”

 

Twitter @sheriffali

 

http://nyti.ms/1Iol2QU