Doesn't the Bible say something about Jesus wanting the Sheep (on his right) and not the Goats (on his left). Sheep don't think for themselves.

Although interesting the article assumes that their is a god, ranging from an interventionist god through to the creator of the Laws of Physics. What would atheists have to say about blindly following?

Well said and an excellent post.

It is not a difficult concept to grasp. People who are willing to surrender rational thought and blindly believe in something as irrational as religion will also be more willing to do the same when fawning over Bush et al.

If you can blindly believe one in the face of confounding evidence to the contrary, it makes sense that blindly believing the other in the face of all evidence will be much easier also.

The Bush/Cheney regime is in many ways unique to history. But in other ways Cheney is just another despot. (Bush is only the face of this regime I beleive)

Make no bones about it, Bush/Cheney are theocratic dictators. They have the support of millions in America, but definatley not the majority.

Lets not beat around the Bush, they were not elected democratically, in 2000 OR 2004.

Holding bogus elections is nothing new, but world leaders from all over the globe refer to Bush as 'the democratically elected leader', he is not, and the fact that he is acknowledged as such is very strange.

Corruption is rife in the Bush admin and the bill of rights and the constitution have been radically watered down since his coronation.

Maybe things will change in 2008, but I think the last 6 years may have just been the beginning of the end.

Good for you, Jeff Schubert. About time we had a bit of real psychology, combined with good common sense. Good stuff so far from most of our contributors also. As an oldie origionally from the bush also always remember advice from my stepfather, my own father dying not long after WW1.

My second father was a hard bastard if ever there was one, gave orders in the summertime, make sure your waterbag lasts all day because I don't want to see you knock off till after sundown.

Went to country school with kids from both Irish as well as a German family, both families not standing up for God save the King before the monthly flicks in the town. Bit of a flare up about it at the school on Monday. Took the row home, but the old man, as we called him, surprised us. Just don't make a song and dance about it, he swore, remember they're our neighbours.

It made us think differently about things, sorta not taking sides so much but tossing things around in the mind.

While studying in retirement, got very interested in a book by Geoffrey Searle, called From Deserts the Prophets Come, which Searle like Socrates encourages us to study hard, take interest in the great thinkers, and let it all sink in. Still got the book.

You are so right, Jeff, but the overhead or deep depth view as you have expressed, in today's global situation can be sometimes expressed by our leaders as unpatriotic. If you are not with us, you are against us, says GW Bush, as well as just lately, our own Peter Costello. Yes, it is a worry.

Jeff

I think your article was spot on.

The media are as guilty or even more so in surrendering their critical thinking.
We are constantly exposed to government press releases which are released as news without any question from the media.
Goering had it worked out (the politics of fear) and this is working well for the Howard government. Many Australians think that Saddam posed a threat to Australia, and do not even remember the reason Howard first gave for invading Iraq or ask what happened to all the WMD's.

I think that until we start using our critical thinking abilities then we will continue to live in a 1984 (George Orwell) environment of permanent war and fear.

The fact that there have been so many favourable comments on your article show that some people are thinking instead of just believing.

'showed that 32 per cent of people who believed in a god which was “highly involved in their daily lives and world affairs” also trusted Bush “a lot”. The researchers called this type of god “authoritarian”.

The study also identified three other categories of god: “benevolent”, “critical” and “distant”. The “benevolent” god “is very active in our daily lives” but less so in the affairs of the world than the “authoritarian” god, and less wrathful: only 23 per cent of believers in such a god trusted Bush “a lot”. Only 12 per cent of people who believed in a god that “really does not interact with the world” - a “critical” god - trusted Bush a lot; and the figure was only 9 per cent for those who saw god as “distant”, more as a “cosmic force which set the laws of nature in motion”.

In short, people most anxious to believe in a “highly involved” god - in spite of a complete lack of evidence that any sort of god exists at all - also want to believe in Bush. They are very ready to surrender their own critical thinking to an authority figure, be it a god or a man'
Lol. Surrendering our critical thinking would be to believe this article. Race is a much more significant factor in whether someone 'trusts Bush a lot', but I don't see the author lamenting that fact. Note also the phrase 'people most anxious'. The rhetoric continues.
(note also, that only 53%, not 63% of the Authoritarian God types believed Saddam was involved in 9-11.)

Of course, the author is obviously an atheist peddling their own lack of rationality as 'critical thinking'. Pop psychology and confusing correlation with causation does not make you a clear thinker. What it does make you is a propagandist who is big on rhetoric, but small on reason.