Colson Refutes Bush-Bashing of Former White House Aide Turned Author
by Jim Brown
November 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Nixon White House insider and Christian author is highly critical of a controversial book that alleges the Bush administration manipulates evangelical Christians.In his book Tempting Faith, former Bush aide David Kuo accuses President Bush of failing to fully fund faith-based programs for the poor. The author also claims Bush administration staffers mocked evangelical Christians behind their backs, calling them "nuts" and "goofy," and that these believers have been used by the administration for political purposes.
Kuo says he was influenced by a book Christian author and Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson wrote 20 years ago titled Kingdoms in Conflict. Colson, however, says he Is afraid it is Kuo who has been used.
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Chuck Colson |
"I think it's very sad that David even wrote the book," Colson says, "and even sadder was that he intended it to be published next spring and he allowed the publisher to talk him into putting it out now. [The book], of course, is one of a cottage industry of books coming out that bash the Bush administration and bash conservatives."As a close friend to George W. Bush, Colson says he is "incredibly impressed" with the President's Christian commitment and his grasp of the faith-based movement. "Bush did not play politics with the faith-based initiative," the evangelical author insists. He says that effort is very much a part of who the President is.
George W. Bush "helped us set up a prison in Texas that's been a model," the Prison Fellowship founder points out -- a model that has got "all over the world, people copying it." He says that faith-based prison has been running for ten years, and has been hugely successful. "We've cut the recidivism, the repeat incarceration rate, of our graduates to eight percent," Colson notes. And he asserts that George Bush has "had an interest in this from the beginning."
It is "very unfortunate" and surprising that Kuo wrote this book, the Christian author says. And even more surprising and disappointing than that, he notes, is the book's conclusion that evangelical Christians should fast from voting. That, he contends, "is the worst advice I could possibly imagine to the Christian movement today."
Colson eagerly defends George W. Bush against all allegations that his administration manipulates evangelical Christians for political gain. In fact, Colson says he has worked with Bush on issues such as AIDS, sex trafficking, slavery in Sudan, and prison reform, and the president has delivered on all of them.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
