Is Bush hearing voices?

I noticed that a blog called Zeitblog has linked to an interesting article in Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, with one fascinating quote. The article is primarily about Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his efforts to deal with Hamas, but that’s not the interesting part (well, it is interesting, but it isn’t the part I want to talk about).

Haaretz spoke with Abbas at length about his recent meeting with President Bush in Egypt. Abbas said that Bush told him, “God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them.”

At the outset, let me say I have no way of judging the reliability of this comment. First, this is obviously hearsay. Second, the quote is coming from a foreign newspaper, quoting a foreign leader whose English isn’t perfect, who in turn is quoting a Bush comment from memory that no one else heard.

But just for the sake of conversation, let’s play along and say Abbas’ quote of Bush is correct.

If so, I’m left wondering, in the immortal words of Jon Stewart, Whaaaaa?

Is it even possible that Bush is relying on instructions he hears from God to guide his foreign policy? And as Zeitblog noted, isn’t this exactly the same thing Osama bin Laden says to justify his efforts?

I don’t want to get into some deep theological discussion here, and I respect Bush’s right to be as religious as he chooses to be, but there is something deeply frightening about the idea that the president is acting on instructions he thinks are coming from God, if that is in fact the case.

People who believe they are acting under divine “orders” act with dangerous certainty. They can not be dissuaded or discouraged because, in their mind, God “told” them what to do. Indeed, critics and opponents are not only viewed as incorrect, they’re seen as heretics. Political leaders who adopt such a view do so with particularly horrific consequences, as evidenced by the Crusades, the Inquisition, and as Zeitblog said, even the Holocaust.

Remember, when you talk to God, it’s prayer. When God talks to you, its schizophrenia.