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Oct
11
The penultimate prayer in Judaism requires Jews to pound a closed fist over their heart as they recite a litany of sins – something which I will start doing tomorrow evening and during the day on Thursday as part of Yom Kippur.
Since once is never enough, we have a few different ways of describing our sins and we do it in English, in Hebrew, silently, outloud. All day. While we fast.
I received the following version of one of these prayers, called the Al Cheit, today. I do not know the author, but I promise, I attribute it to you – whomever you are, rather than myself, although I wholeheartedly agree with everything it says.
Word of note: In Judaism, it is said, God can only forgive sins that we’ve committed against Her. For sins commited against other people, we must ask them for forgiveness.
High Holy Days Confessional (“Al Cheit”) by George W. Bush
For the sin I have committed before you by promising to be a compassionate conservative, but showing no compassion.
For the sin I have committed before you by waging an unjust war in Iraq in the false name of fighting terrorism.
For the sin I have committed before you by waging a political campaign built on fear, not hope.
For the sin I have committed before you by cynically exploiting the horrors of 9/11 for political gain.
For the sin I have committed before you by ignoring the plight of the poorest and weakest among our citizens.
For the sin I have committed before you by the unnecessary deaths of 2,000 young Americans, the injuries to thousands more, and the deaths and injuries to untold numbers of Iraqis.
For the sin I have committed before you by lying about my record of service in the National Guard.
For these sins, oh forgiving God, forgive me, pardon me, grant me atonement.
For the sin I have committed before you by dividing rather than uniting our people.
For the sin I have committed before you by ignoring the loss of over one million jobs in the U.S.
For the sin I have committed before you by doing nothing to provide health insurance to millions of Americans, and to stem rapidly rising prescription medicine andother health care costs.
For the sin I have committed before you by systematically weakening environmental and pollution regulations, thereby endangering public health and destroying precious wilderness resources.
For the sin I have committed before you by promising to leave no child behind, and then failing to adequately fund educational programs.
For the sin I have committed before you by allowing the assault weapons ban to die, allowing these grotesque weapons to return to our streets.
For the sin I have committed before you by bearing false witness about the reasons for going to war in Iraq.
For the sin I have committed before you by perpetuating the falsehood that increasing homeland security requires a weakening of civil rights.
For the sin I have committed before you by imposing a veil of secrecy on government decision making processes.
For these sins, oh forgiving God, forgive me, pardon me, grant me atonement.
For the sin I have committed before you by allowing the ends to justify any means.
For the sin I have committed before you by lowering taxes for only the very wealthiest Americans (giving them a 3.5 trillion $ tax break) enriching the few at the expense of the many.
For the sin I have committed before you by running a cynical and destructive presidential campaign, designed to destroy rather than just defeat my opponent.
For the sin I have committed before you by fighting a war in Iraq to divert attention from failures in the just war on terrorists, and from failing to act against the looming nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea.
For the sin I have committed before you by failing to make any progress in achieving a just peace between Israel and the Arabs.
For the sin I have committed before you by turning a massive government surplus into a massive deficit in less than four years, thereby burdening future generations withuntold debt.
For the sin I have committed before you by unnecessarily damaging relations with American friends and allies throughout the world.
For these sins, oh forgiving God, forgive me, pardon me, grant meatonement.
For the sin I have committed before you by promoting a personal ideology rather than the interests of the people.
For the sin I have committed before you by arrogance and swagger, speaking with a forked tongue, and for the haughty exercise of power.
For the sin I have committed before you by appointing arch-conservative judges to the federal judiciary.
For the sin I have committed before you by irresponsibly damaging the reputation of the United States throughout the world.
For the sin I have committed before you by enriching my friends in the conduct of government and military affairs.
For the sin I have committed before you by encouraging xenophobia on thepart of the American people.
For the sin I have committed before you by attempting to impose my extreme religious and moralistic values on the entire nation, and weakening the separation between church and state.
For the sin I have committed before you by characterizing all who opposeme as evil, and all who agree with me as good.
And for the sin I have committed before you by failing to acknowledge my responsibility for all these sins, for attempting to blame others for them, and for all the injury and damage they have caused to individuals, the Nation, and the future.
For these sins, oh forgiving God, forgive me, pardon me, grant me atonement.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:00 pm October 11th, 2005 in Politics
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Jill–that’s remarkable. And oh, so true.
Thanks.
Yes – can you believe the author captured pretty much everything!? I’m sure I can’t remember all my sins.
Incredible.
And God is listening. First DeLay. Now Karl Rove is going down. I sure hope…
R
Average IQ of Hong Kong/China: 107
Average IQ of Korea, Japan, Singapore 105
Average IQ of EU, USA, Canada: 100
Average IQ of People who voted for Bush: 94
Average IQ of Kentucky: 92
Average IQ of George W Bush: 91
Average IQ of South Asia, North Africa, Latin America, and Mississippi: 85
Average IQ of Sub-Sahara Africa and Caribean: 70
Giggling, and not really giggling. Thanks.
After the election last year, weren’t there some numbers re: IQ of red states versus blue states or something like that? Suggesting that Kerry states were smarter, in IQ numbers anyway, than states that went to Bush?
Jill, your writing fascinates me. I love reading about your experiences with your religion.
Joanne – Thanks so much. I love writing about those experiences but they are some of the hardest to put into words, which is perhaps why I like writing about them so much.
[...] And for George Bush to recite, yet again. [...]