A little too familiar

Lately I've been reading Torn and Frayed in Manila, a blog by an expat in Manila. It has lots of useful information and well-informed commentary about the Philippines. The most recent post is about politics and religion here -- which are often one and the same.

God's place of permanent residence is, of course, the Philippines. When not encouraging US presidents to bomb Baghdad, he pops up about once a week in Manila to resolve some ticklish problem. There he was in 2001 leading the march on Malacañang (“To believers like me, the presence of God in People Power 2 at EDSA cannot be disputed” according to former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel) and a few years later he advised President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "not to run for president during the elections of 2004" (hmm, wonder what changed God’s mind?).

"It is God who puts ideas in my heart," explained Arroyo. "In fact, in my attendance at Mass, it felt to me like He was telling me that He chose me to become president because He also knows that when He tells me not to run, then I would not run," she said.

The full post is great -- refering to the illustrious President Bush and the belief that God put him in office.