Saturday, May 20, 2017

George HW Bush Speech on Tolerance



During his 1992 campaign for reelection to the presidency, George H.W. Bush gave a thoughtful speech on the issue of tolerance in Virginia.  It’s well worth the read:

…On September 11 (1992) [President Bush] spoke in Virginia Beach, Virginia – home of the Revered Pat Robertson, a key member of the religious Right:

Intolerance is not a word stamped “Liberals only.”  Too often we conservatives have not been vigilant – but overzealous – forgetting why America was founded – to bring in, not drive away.  Too often our politics have been of the closed door.  So sometimes we forget how God asks us to hate the sin – but, yes, to love the sinner.

            As conservatives we should ask ourselves:  How can we condone homosexual- and lesbian-bashing, the burning of abortion clinics, the smearing of non-Americans as un-American?  Have we not endorsed the view – even accidentally – that since only our way is good – and others must be bad?

            When God looks down from Heaven, He does not divide black from white, rural from urban, stay-at-home mothers from single mothers.  He says – as we must:  “All are welcome at my table.”

            When we sing the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” we don’[t mean just those who are affluent or who have two parents, we mean all the children in the world.  Each is precious in His sight.

            Barbara and I had six kids – one died, five are living.  I believe all are precious – just as all Americans will be welcome at the table as long as I am president.  I believe too, that different means neither better nor worse.

            In the only election that really counts, God won’t ask “Were you English-speaking?  Were you ‘foreign’?” – whatever that means.  He won’t ask, “Were you – quote, unquote – ‘successful’?”

            Instead, God will ask, “Were we kind?  Were we selfless? Did we lend a hand – believe in prayer, and keep God’s faith?  Did we truly live – did we try to live – a good and honest life?”

George H.W. Bush:  Character at the Core, by Curt Smith, page 217-218[1]




[1] Click here for the entire quote. 

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