Bush's Asian Tsunami Response Isn't About Money

January 3, 2005

Bush certainly reacted slowly to the December 2004 tsunami calamity in Asia. He was publically absent for a few days and his initial donation offer seemed pitiful to many. Almost immediately he raised it to 35 million and when worldwide pressure became intolerable  to 350 million.

His supporters blindly reacted by saying the initial offer was just that, just a "down payment" until more information was available about the scope of the problem so it didn't matter that Bush had little or nothing to say.

Nonsense! They just don't get it.

Bush should have reacted within a day with words of compassion, expressing his solidarity and offering condolences. He should have done this because Americans and the world expected him to do so. It was a Presidential and most importantly, the human and Christian thing to do. But Bush, well, being Bush, didn't because he has little empathy or concern about the suffering of poor and mostly Muslim people thousands of miles away.

Why is this?

It comes from his religious background.

You see, contemporary "born again" Christians, believe if you are not saved then there is no hope. It is them and you, black and white, for and against and saved and the unsaved. Being unsaved means you have little value as a human being. As an unsaved heathen, you are not worthy of any real effort or consideration except to be converted if possible. If not, then forget about it!

For pseudo Christians like Bush, a token response is adequate and that is what Bush did. He did his "borne-again" Christian thing, proving if you are not saved, then God help you because they won't .....  unless they have to and then, it will be about money and not compassion.

Money is the red herring in all this. Now is how much the U.S. has pledged in relation to other countries. The real issue is Bush's lack of empathy for others.

People who talk about money for the tsunami victims use it to shield themselves and Bush from criticism and responsibility. It hides what they really are, detached and indifferent human beings who are pseudo- borne again Christians blinded to the fact that all humans have value and are "God's children". Deep down they need a money shield to hide the fact they don't live as Jesus would have or even believe the same things He did.

Luckily, God's tally is more about money or whether you are saved.