“Don’t let shame keep you from getting tested or treated,” President George W. Bush said to those with AIDS after signing legislation authorizing a $48 billion program to fight AIDS globally. “Your life is treasured by the people who love you…. It matters to the people of the United States.”
Valuing life is one of President Bush’s core beliefs. Fox News Channel’s reporter Brett Baier interviewed President Bush in January 2008. Baier asked Bush whether he was an idealist or a realist. Bush’s reply revealed his perspective on the author of life and freedom.
“I consider myself a combination of idealist and realist. I am idealistic because I believe in this fundamental truth: There is an Almighty. And a gift of that Almighty to every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth is liberty is freedom. I believe that with the very essence of my being, and am therefore am willing to act on that,” he replied earnestly.
“Now if you believe, that (freedom is a gift from God) then it ought to make you an optimistic person because freedom yields peace. It’s also a realistic way to defend America because ultimately the ideology of freedom must trump the hatred of the ideologues that kill to achieve their objectives. In the long term the only way to protect America is to spread liberty. Some say that is hopelessly idealistic. I say that it is idealistic but it has worked,” Bush explained.
Baier asked Bush to size up whether he would be able to declare victory in Iraq before his term’s end. Bush gave a realistic but optimistic reply.
“Victory in Iraq is going to be gradual. The security situation has certainly improved. The political situation is getting better and the economy is beginning to improve. It takes awhile to recover from a tyrannical situation. I think when I get out of here, I will have put Iraq in a position so that my successor, whoever that is, will be able to deal with the situation on the ground there. And I believe (the next president) will understand the strategic consequences of the emergence of this free society,” he said.
Scripture explains that God took something lifeless dust and gave it life. No matter a person’s ethnicity, religious heritage, or nationality, the desire for freedom is as natural as the air we breathe.
O giver of life, thank you for this most precious gift you have given me.
“The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)