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]
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