Reply #101: I agree with Dean's comments on Jesus Christ and bike paths.

[madfloridian]

I don't want preachers defining politics anymore. Dean spoke for himself in this article...Wallis is a good man, but he is not a politician.

"Christ was someone who sought out people who were disenfranchised, people who were left behind," Dean said. "He fought against self-righteousness of people who had everything . . . He was a person who set an extraordinary example that has lasted 2000 years, which is pretty inspiring when you think about it."

"Religion was a private matter for Dean growing up. "My father used to tell us how much strength he got from religion, but we didn't have Bible readings. There are traditions where people do that. We didn't," he said. "People in the Northeast don't talk about their religion. It's a very personal private matter, and that's the tradition I was brought up in."

And on separation of church and state:
" `Render unto God those things that are God's but unto Caesar those things that are Caesar's,' " a reference to Jesus's admonition that the secular and religious remain separate."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/12/25/seeking_a_new_emphasis_dean_touts_his_christianity/

And here is a website that discusses a lot about Dean and religion.

http://www.illuminated.co.uk/blog/archives/2003/12/29/deanreligion


"Dean: Churches are institutions that are about doing the work of God on earth, and I didn't think was very Godlike and thought it was hypocritical of me to be a member of such an institution.

Remember, the Church, when deciding whether to favour a community-spirited bike path, or to object to it on privacy grounds along with a number of other wealthy property owners who were eyeing up the railway track for commercial development, sided with the rich guys. Howard Dean didn't want to be a member of a church like that, and I can't say I can blame him."

And I admire that as well.