Experience explains it all. George W. Bush and his cabal had experience defined as the apprehension or perception of an object, thought, emotion, or event through senses or the mind. The result is that if it feels right, it must be true. That is the basis of senseless belief.
The second meaning of experience is the active participation in events or activities, leading to accumulation of knowledge or skill. This is acceptable only if the participant is objective and not already tied to prior convictions.
In neither case can McCain or Palin be experienced in anything but blind prejudice and dogma. If they were able to learn from experience they might become useful public servants. but their convictions belie their honesty and objectivity,
POLITICS
The Gospel of Chaplain John
McCain has often shown a stubborn sense of decency that should appeal broadly.
Published Aug 30, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Sep 8, 2008
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When John McCain was chosen as one of three chaplains during his Vietnam captivity, it seemed slightly ridiculous, especially to him. He had been a wild child at the Naval Academy and was prone to defying his captors by "uplifting his center finger" and uttering "the oath that is commonly associated with that gesture," as one observer has delicately related.
"I would like to tell you that I was selected to be room chaplain because I had an abundance of religiosity," McCain explained in an interview last year with Beliefnet. He was chosen instead because he had attended an Episcopal high school and knew the Christian liturgy by heart. "So I had an ability to lead a church service."
But it turned out to be a formative experience for McCain: "I'll never forget that first Christmas when I … read from the Nativity story … And I looked in that room around and there were guys who had already been there for seven years and tears were streaming down their face, not out of sorrow, but out of joy that for the first time in all that captivity, we could celebrate the birth of Christ together."
Once again John McCain is being forced—unwillingly and only partially prepared—into a position of religious leadership. Many Americans expect their nominee to talk about his or her faith openly and fluently. Though America is not a "Christian nation" either in fact or intention, the president has always played a role of nonsectarian, priestly comfort, especially in times of mourning and crisis. And the great movements of justice in American history—from abolition to woman suffrage to civil rights—have often been rooted in the content and language of faith.
At the recent Saddleback presidential forum hosted by Pastor Rick Warren, McCain still had all the reticence of his generation in talking about his personal beliefs. He appealed effectively to religious conservatives on a variety of specific issues—abortion, school choice, judicial appointments—but devoted only a single sentence to his own theology. And he is largely incapable of explaining how his faith informs his public priorities.
But McCain does have a case to make, even if he can't seem to make it. His old Episcopal training seems to have given him something more than a mastery of the Nicene Creed. He has often shown a stubborn sense of decency and morality that should appeal broadly to Protestants (mainline and evangelical), Roman Catholics, Jews and others who are concerned about social justice.
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