Bush and Spying

It's not much of a surprise to me that the government is "eavesdropping" on random people --that's simply what happens in a fearful administration--and this is an administration totally based on fear. The trend that disturbs me is that it this fear has spread not only into our private lives but into private religion as well.

Never before have people been as cautious about what they say within the church. Since Thomas Reese, SJ was asked to step down by the Vatican there is an impending sense of "what's next?" amongst those of us who work within church circles (especially since Reese was fairly moderate in his views).

Bush continues in his fundamentalist strain as our President with the misguided notion that his is alligned with God and can do no wrong. He continues to stay the course even after admitted mistakes.

Some people think that's what a President should be--a guy who makes a snap decison and then lives with it. I think that's the sure sign of a fool.

People at the highest (and lowest) level of our Government and even those in our Catholic hierarchy need to not merely admit mistakes and then resume the usual state of affairs. Rather they need to ask how they have been changed by the new information that has come to light. If the Bishops didn't react to the sexual abuse crisis when they did we'd still be reeling from that.

Maybe President Bush can take a lesson from them?