Religious Beliefs of Al Franken

[Eric J in MN]

From my blog at moveleft.com,
http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_01_05_the_religious_beliefs_of_al_franken.asp

To listen to the audio discussed in this article, click below:

Al Franken talks about his religious beliefs at the start of the Jan. 3, 2005 "Al Franken Show" radio broadcast

At the end of the above audio excerpt, Al Franken mention that his radio show blog has this link to organizations accepting donations to help tsunami victims.

Al Franken has been away because he was on USO tour to entertain the troops in Iraq two weeks ago and subsequently was on vacation last week..

Franken returned to his show on "Air America Radio" on Monday.

A great tragedy, the tsunami which killed over 150,000 people in Asia,
had occurred while he was away.

Franken, who is Jewish, began by talking about God.

Franken implied he has these religious beliefs:

God created the universe.

However, God does not get involved in modern affairs.

The Holocaust and the tsunami deaths do not seem
consistent with a loving God involved in modern affairs.

Franken said that his character, Stuart Smalley, was
inspired by a man who
thanked God for helping him find an apartment.

Franken doesn't believe that God helps people find
apartments.

Franken's negative reaction to a man who apparently thinks that God allowed the Holocaust but
wouldn't allow that man to go another week
without a new apartment helped inspire Franken to create Stuart Smalley.

On politics, Franken said that George W. Bush's belief
that he's chosen by God is "incredibly arrogant" (Commerce Secretary and close friend of Bush, Don Evans, said that Bush believes he was chosen by God to be president, as reported in "Strain of Iraq war showing on Bush, those who know him say" by Judy Keen, USA Today, Apr. 2, 2003.)

Franken doesn't believe that God chooses presidents.

Since Bush apparently believes that God got involved to make him president, Franken wonders if Bush also believes that God got involved to kill 150,000 people with a tsunami.

In previous shows, Franken has criticized
Pat Robertson's notion of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack as
God's punishment. Franken also discusses the Pat Robertson's remarks in his best-selling book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."