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Dean and Religion
...George Bush hasn't run into such problems. Is it because he is more knowledgeable about the scriptures and the Christian faith than Dean? I very much doubt it. But Bush has had exposure as an adult to an ongoing evangelical small group. He does demonstrate that he has picked up both the ethos and argot of that part of the Christian culture and he's quite effective in communicating to his "brothers" in the faith -- and I mean to limit it by gender -- that he's one of them. Add to that a speechwriter like Michael Gerson who really does know the Bible and evangelical theology, and an image of Bush is created that convinces evangelicals, especially male evangelicals, that they have one of their own in the White House. They don't expect Bush to have a thorough or sophisticated knowledge of the faith. His limitations in that regard make him more like them. As long as he talks the talk and occasionally shows the kind of emotions that men are encouraged to display in small group settings, he's golden....