It seems that George W. Bush has struck a media nerve with his statement about Christ in the recent Republican Debate.  Chris Mathews on “Hardball” had a conniption fit, Sandy Grady, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, in a recent column… likewise. 

The question Mr. Bush responded to was a simple answer to a simple question.  The reason for these debates is to let us see how they answer, how they act and react.  They are to reveal the man and let the voters decide.  It was a good question and allows the voter to make a judgment on the candidate… may it be positive or negative. 

 The chattering class thinks it their duty to tell the candidates and us what a presidential candidate should and should not say!  Mr. Grady and others want religions statements and images limited to pictures of candidates coming out of church with a Bible in hand.  This is enough about religion!   The problem is that they try to make their case with images and not logic. 

 An example… Sandy Grady writes; “ Never mind that Bush’s self-proclaimed Christianity didn’t stop him from executing Karla Faye Tucker, whose heart also was changed by Jesus.” 

 Making a case with images, not logic.  Who could not “feel” for Ms. Tucker and her situation. This  “so-called” Christian Mr. Bush pulled the lever!  By using the term “self-proclaimed” he mocks Mr. Bush and implying that if his Christianity were “real” he would have saved Ms. Tucker.  Let me point out that Mr. Grady does not use any mocking language about Ms. Tucker’s also “self-proclaimed” Christianity.  That would get in the way of making a case with images, not facts and logic.  I might add that every Christian is “Self-Proclaimed”!

 The facts and the logic get in the way of Mr. Grady so he conveniently avoids them.  Mr. Bush had no authority to “save” Ms. Tucker.  With good reason he could have stayed the execution for 30 days for review.  Mr. Grady would have Mr. Bush ignore the law and go with “feelings”.  We have seen too much of that lately!

 If he understood the facts and Christianity he would have realized that Ms. Tucker, by being a Christian does not avoid consequences of her actions.  In fact, Ms. Tucker understood this much more profoundly than Mr. Grady!

 We have gone down the road of “feelings” and responding to images.  The media is a master at that and they know we will respond.  Oprah Winfrey is the embodiment of this genre.   It is the easy way out.  Images of Ms. Tucker dying, a child hungry makes a case that many times overcomes logic, facts and solid reasoning.  Some have made the argument that we are losing our ability to listen to a logical argument and come to a conclusion.  Television has allowed us to sit and absorb… with no requirement to think and reason and come to a logical conclusion. 

How many times have you heard someone say; “We must feed the hungry child”.  But have you heard someone ask why so many parents are abdicating their basic obligation?

 The first question evokes images and feelings… the second asks the hard logical question to which we have to respond with thinking, much harder that just reacting to an image and expressing our “feelings”.  Making a well thought out logical argument is difficult and less likely to be read. 

 I do realize that we must fan passion to solve a problem, but if we just respond to the “feelings” we will most likely avoid the logic and essentially the real answers.  By bypassing the parent and feeding the child we solve the problem for the short term but not the long term.  In fact we model to those children that when they become parents that can avoid one of their basic responsibilities and thereby continuing and exacerbating the problem.

 When we hear a story aimed at our heart, ask the hard logical questions. Only then will we have the “whole package”.  We will be using our Heart and Mind to come to real answers.