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Karl Rove is a genius-he got christians to overwhelming vote for and support the policies of a war criminal.

Why would Christianity Today want draw attention to Mr. Rove? What he did was shameful.

War criminal? Wow that's a little fanatical..maybe you're on the wrong forum. Maybe you're forgetting about 9/11? You know the islamist terror attacks on NYC and D.C. where over 3,000 people died(more Americans were killed on 9/11 than were killed on D-Day or Pearl Harbor!). The islamists threaten to detonate nuclear weapons in American,European and Israeli cities and Bush is the war criminal??
How is he a war criminal? Do you think he killed the American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq?? You want to know the real truth?...Muslims killed the 4,000 U.S. soldiers in iraq and afghanistan! Do you still think "there's U.S. soldiers over there dying everyday"?? Because it's not true..that was during the battle and now it's over..we won....get over it...you should be happy about it...de-brainwash yourself democrat,Bush is no war criminal.

Karl Rove was not immoral. He was amoral. He was just following the advice of Jesus, that 'God helps those who help themselves' In that way, he was demonstrating that the Bible is primarily a textbook on how to succeed in America.

If you want an explanation as to why the administration is guilty of war crimes, read up on the Nuremburg trials following WWII. Pre-emptive wars of agression are war crimes. So is ignoring treaties such as the Geneve Convention.

I do remember 911-it was a terrible tragedy. So are the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and the displacement of 3 millions Iraqis from their homes.

You called me a brainwashed democrat. My only response to you would be to ask if you have ever considered any of these questions: Are Iraqi deaths worth less than American's? Did the 911 hijackers come from Iraq. Is global military crusade the best way to deal with terrorism? Could the 500 billion spent on the Iraq war been spent more effectively by pursuing non-military means of addressing the underlying issues causing terrorism. Is the fear mongering "islamofascist" rhetoric really accurate? Is our goverment always right when it comes to decisions about war. Should Christians question goverment policies?

President Bush is NOT a war criminal. I know that is the mantra of the Blathering Left. Saddam Hussein had WMDs and used them to murder his own people. We don't know what became of the WMDs, but he DID possess them at one time. He also gave material and monetary support to Palestinian terrorists who murdered innocent Israelis. And Saddam murdered his own people by the tens of thousands.

By the way, when people say that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died during the war, please remember that 95% of those deaths were carried out by bloody terrorists operating in Iraq. Those people would murder every one of us if they had the opportunity.

President Bush had the good sense to stop them before they got to our shores. That's not the action of a war criminal; that is the action of a president who put doing the right thing above achieving personal political popularity.

Thanks for speaking up, JWO! Karl Rove is an incredibly dangerous war criminal. I speak this as a Christian and human being - not as a republican, democrat, or green. Iraq wasn't behind 9/11 and we started an illegal, preemptive war.

But that's an opinion. Regardless of what we think about Rove, I'd note this for us all: why are so many Christian quick to jump on the war bandwagon when we should instead be worried about God's eternal kingdom and going out as missionaries? When are we going to stop up to the plate as CHRISTIANS, and not just as "republicans" or "democrats," "pro-war" or "anti-war" citizens? Can we set aside our differences and heal the wounds of the nations?

Support all of the troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with spiritual care (they need it!) and send relief to the aid workers who are helping the splintered Iraqi families. Iraqi children are going to suffer from psychological strain that will change generations and the women are still dealing with rape (especially if they've lost their husbands). Our troops suffer a similar psychological strain. We are the only light for them right now.

Back on the subject: Karl Rove overstated things a little bit. He attended Olympus High School in the 1960s, and was probably taught in his civics classes by my former Jr. Hi teacher who transferred over there. The Latter-day Saint population in Salt Lake County at the time was around 75%. It has gone down since then due to inmigration of people who have discovered what a great place to live Utah is.

As for the definition of "gentiles": The LDS believe that they are adopted into one of the tribes of Israel, usually Ephraim or Manasseh (the sons of Joseph of Egypt). They regard Jews as fellow members of Israel, of the tribe of Judah (or Benjamin or Levi for those who know their ancestry). A Presbyterian would be a gentile under both the Jewish and LDS definitions.

One of the early governors elected in Utah was Simon Bamberger, a Jewish entrepreneur who built a local railroad and an amusement park to give people a reason to ride his trains. He liked to tell the story of campaigning in a largely Scandinavian settlement, where one of the locals said "Ve are not shure ve vant to fote for a gentile", at which point Bamberger explained he was in fact a Jew, which completely changed the response of the immigrants. "Do you hear, Mama, he is a Yew!"

One thing about growing up in Utah is that one is forced to think about what he or she does believe about God, one way or the other. Mormon kids are ready, willing and able to carry on a conversation about what they believe, and why, and they sort of expect that others can do the same, whatever it is they believe. It is an atmosphere that encourages people with religious convictions to express them openly, without fear of offense. The teachers in a school would not be doing it, even back in the 1960s, but the kids would bring it up in casual conversations like on those long bus rides on a field trip.

I agree, Karl Rove is amoral. Jesus gave no such advice -- i.e. God helps those who help themselves. This is not in the Bible. It comes from Benjamin Franklin.

My religious tradition teaches that Jesus helps everyone whether they help themselves or not. This is news to many Christians. To me it is the Good News of the gospel.

Satan is the prince of lies. Rove did not hesitate to use half truths and distortions for political gain. Attacking a person's character meant nothing to him, as long as it meant political gains for 'his' side. Religious beliefs were useful to him, to mask his true agenda for America; the wealthy and powerful become more so, and everyone else reduced to servitude.

Hmm. So Karl Rove is, or isn't a "person of faith" or a "religious person". Seeing as how we're a bit short on the details, let's take a look at what Rove has done with his life lately... promoting unjust, illegal and immoral wars seems to be at the top of the list. Huh. One wonders what "faith" drives Karl to his actions. History will judge him as a war criminal, along with his stooges Bush and Cheney. If Rove really his a believer in Christ, he has yet to demonstrate it by his deeds.

How did an article about Karl Rove get hi-jacked to a slug fest about the Iraq War? I would much rather talk about how real Christians let themselves get duped in politics by the smooth talkers, Karl Rove being one of them. It is time the believers listened to the Holy Spirit rather than all the political Pied Pipers who never deliver on promises to the faithful.

I think Kieth is asking some very good questions. I find it rather difficult to swallow when Iraqi deaths are just considered "collateral damage". It seems to me that in the eyes of God the lives of all people are valuable regardles of what nation they come from.

Keith Johnson

How about a Book, Chapter, Verse were Jesus said "God helps those who help themselves." It isn't in the Bible.

Someone or somebodies led the some of the evangelical Christians astray so that they support a pre-emptive war in a country, Iraq, that had never done anything to us and had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks. I for one don't how we can ever repay the Iraqui people for the damage we have done to their country.

I just wanted to point out that the quote "God helps those who help themselves" is not from the bible, but from Benjamin Franklin.

Also, I'm sorry if I can't "be happy about" the thousands of American soldiers' lives lost (the most recent one a 22-year-old on February 25th this year) on bad information at best. I don't think that makes me brainwashed. Wanting to prevent loss of life makes me a responsible citizen, not a brainwashed democrat. I don't see how that makes me un-Christian or un-American, and I certainly don't see how that would lead you to infer that I am on the wrong forum-

unless you believe that if I believe in Jesus Christ, I must believe in Karl Rove and George W. Bush, too.

Thanks for this opportunity to post.

Harald,
US soldiers are in fact dying every day. Here are the monthly US military statistics for military deaths in Iraq for the last 6 months:
September2007 62
October2007 37
November2007 35
December2007 23
January 2008 40
February2008 28

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm

Keith, it wasn't Jesus who said "God helps those who helps themselves." It was Ben Franklin.

Karl Rove, master of the dirty tricks and the Big Lie, user and abuser of the evangelicals, cannot possibly be a Christian as far as I understand the word. I'm surprised Christianity Today would devote any time to him at all.

Mr. Karl ROVE ! Here is the conclusion about the 'laïcité' as established and supposed to work well in FRANCE, even misunderstood otherwise. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when confronted to human hypocrisy from religious people AND power had been clear:
Matt. 12:17. This is the basis of the French ' laïcité' paradigm promoted by the Protestant real believers (c@) 1905 years later to gain - in theory AND practice to be conquered day after day - against the monolithic RC power. As a matter of fact, it took about half a century and nowadays would be compromised thru some totalitarian ambitioners.
Every citizen in love with genuine LIBERTY of mind and belief supports our 1905 law, establishing in some practice Our Constitution. Although nothing is perfect (if I consider our current results), this principle try to avoid the manipulation of believers on political matters and bias results of polls - with tremendous consequences - here I refer to K.R. procedures. Gisèle

Fox News said that SEVEN nations, including Egypt, Germany and others had warned the U S that Al Qaeda was coming over here to attack us. The Presidential Daily Briefing that the CIA gave to GWB at Crawford, TX on 8/4 said that Al Qaeda was going to attack us using airplanes/and mentioned buildings in our country. YET WE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO AIR DEFENSE ON 9/11. WHY?

Over l MILLION IRAQIs have been killed or severly injured. Before 9 11 Iraq had 1 MILLION Catholics who worshipped regularly; Tariq Aziz was a Roman Catholic who had visited the Pope. And read the Downing Street Memos where the official British government document says that their equivalent of the CIA had come here and then reported that OUR CIA was twisting the intelligence for the war. AND read the documents in the gov of Spain where GWB says that he knew that Saddam had said that if we allowed him to take $1 Billion of Iraq's money that he would leave Iraq and Bush said NO.

We were going to war because the Republican Party thinks that Americans trust a WAR PRESIDENT.

And for Christians to put their head in the sand and take hundreds of thousands of dollars to teach abstinence is absolutely disgusting. I hope that GOD will have MERCY on US ALL.

The loss of a single human life is a tragedy. Regardless of our religious tradition or political allegiance I believe we can agree upon this idea. We can point to a number of tragedies that have led us to this point in American: the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq; the failure of the UN to actually hold Iraq and Hussein accountable for their actions; the individuals and companies that propped up Hussein through their greed in the Oil for Food debacle; the untold deaths at the hands of Hussein's terror police; Al Qaeda’s compromise of Afghanistan; 9/11; numerous terrorist bombings worldwide; civilian deaths in Iraq.
The same nations mentioned by Jenny (and many more) stated unequivocally that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and would use them without regard to achieve their goals. Look to the poison gas and bio weapons used on their own people for collaborative evidence.
There is a reason that God inspired Paul to remind us that the ruling authority has the power of the sword to punish the wrongdoer (Romans 13:1-7). We also have the responsibility to render respect and honor where due. Disagree with Rove, Bush, Clinton or whomever, but do so with respect so that you might be not just heard, but listened to. Strident voices begin to sound a lot like crashing gongs because they are devoid of love--which is, by the way, the truest measure of the Christ-follower. After reading some of the commentary offered in these postings, where is the Seeker to find the authentic love of Christ?

David,

Saddam did use WMD’s on his own people. We were allied with him and provided him with military assistance when he did it. At the time our government did not raise any objections to what he did.
Also, do you remember how our CIA overthrew Iran’s first democratic leader, Mosaddeq, in 1953 and installed the Shah? Do you think that may have influenced the Iranians opinions of the United States.

Are you aware of the dictators our government installed or supported in Latin American countries like Nicaraqua, El Salvador, and Guatamala? We are talking about brutal regimes that slaughtered or disappeared hundreds of thousands of people.

Given past history, christians should be skeptical about the motives of our government and not simply blindly support every military action it takes. Our first allegiance should be to God, not the military industrial complex.

It doesn't matter an iota what Carl Rove says. We live what we believe, so one must only look at his actions to see what he believes, and what he has encouraged the current administration to do.

I grew up in Congo as an "MK"--missionary kid. It is heart-breaking to see the destruction caused in so many African countries by ruthless dictators--many even worse than Saddam. Pres. Bush's words about needing to help the Iraqy people escape from their brutal dictator have always sounded hollow to me. It is absolutely clear that there were other ulterior motives--otherwise we would have long ago helped African nations struggling to be free of corruption and endless wars. I am anguished over the desolation of so many Africans--millions of AIDS victims, millions of women with life-long injuries from rape, millions of orphans. WHERE IS OUR REAL CHRISTIAN LOVE for the world around us? Both Africa and Iraq? I think it is seriously naive to believe for a moment that just because we are Americans, somehow we are "right". The Pharisees were technically "right" when they urged Jesus to allow them to stone the woman caught in adultery. HOW have we gotten to the point where somehow it is assumed that Christians will automatically support any war--because of an over-simplified interpretation of Romans 13? Think about Christians in Nazi Germany. Bottom line for me: Do I think Jesus would have invaded Iraq? NO.