Dean and the Pharisees......CNN last December

[madfloridian]

We are as a party so determined that we must become more religious. I believe the lecturing tone we see in this interview is partially why we are that way. We have been lectured and put down by the other side so long that we don't know how to fight back.

Quick definitions (Pharisee)These are from the internet...not mine, not Dean's...I took them from definitions on the internet...from dictionaries.

noun: a member of an ancient Jewish sect noted for strict obedience to
Jewish traditions
noun: a self-righteous or sanctimonious person
MORE:
pharisee
noun
1 Pharisee a member of an ancient group of Jews, written about in the Bible,
who believed in obeying religious laws very carefully and separated
themselves from the ordinary people

2 DISAPPROVING a person who thinks they are very religious, but who does not
care about others
(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

He was talking with Judy Woodruff.
NOTE: She leads into the conversation with what the Republicans say...typically Judy. Disapproving and tsk tsking about Dean's lack of religion.
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0312/08/ip.00.html

SNIP..."WOODRUFF: At the same time, Governor, I'm sure you know the
Republicans are already starting to talk about the fact that you -- I think
by your own acknowledgment, left the Episcopal Church in some dispute over a
bike path, and you switched to another denomination, the Congregationalist
denomination.

They're asking what does this say about the depth of your commitment to your
own faith?

DEAN: You know what it really says? It says the Republicans are talking like
they're out of the Pharisees. Because if you're a Christian, you're a
Christian. I don't believe it ought to matter what kind of a denomination
you are.

As a matter of fact, if you're a religious person, you're a religious
person. I don't think it ought to matter what religion you are.

So people who talk like that are what Jesus would call the Pharisees. And I
think that's enough of that kind of stuff in the Republican Party. We are
all in this together, whether you are a Christian, or a Jew or a Muslim or a
Hindu. And there's plenty of all to go around in this country...."

[11cents]

1. Shockingly inaccurate definition of Pharisees, FWIW

Well, not shocking, since this is how the word has been defined by Christians for their own theological convenience. Very inaccurate historically, however. If anything, the Pharisees were the "religious left" of their day.

[madfloridian]

3. I edited my post....I got the definitions from the internet.

That is also how I learned about that group growing up as a Southern Baptist.... the term "whited sepulchre" comes to mind.

If you think that is uncorrect, give your own definitions.

[gWbush is Mabus]

2. Dean is great!