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Tony Blair is preparing to launch a “faith offensive” across the United States over the next year, after building up relationships with a network of influential religious leaders and faith organisations.
With Afghanistan and Iraq casting a shadow over his popularity at home in Britain, Blair’s focus has increasingly shifted across the Atlantic, to where the nexus of faith and power is immutable and he is feted like a rock star.
According to the annual accounts of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, a UK-based charity that promotes cohesion between the major faiths, the foundation is to develop a US arm that will pursue a host of faith-based projects. The accounts show that his foundation has an impressive – and, in at least one case, controversial – set of faith contacts. Sitting on some £4.5m in funds as of April last year, mostly gathered through donations, it is now well placed to make its voice heard.
The foundation’s advisory council of religious leaders includes Rick Warren, powerful founder of the California-based Saddleback church. It attracts congregations of nearly 20,000 and is reportedly one of the largest in the US. Warren, who has addressed the UN and the World Economic Forum in Davos, has been named one of the “15 world leaders who matter most” and one of the “100 most influential people in the world”…
That Blair, a charismatic politician driven by faith, should be at home across the Atlantic is no surprise to political analysts. “He comes across as confident and persuasive,” said Professor Shawn Bowler, of the University of California at Riverside. “He does not talk like a modern robo-candidate in the way so many US political figures do.” Unlike in the UK, Blair’s religious fervour is seen as a strength. “Blair is very open about his faith and that plays a lot better in the US than in Britain,” Bowler said…
Maybe he’ll invite George W. Bush to aid him in his New World Crusade.
…followed by his “No Faith” offensive. Which will be less offensive.
Is he coming over to demonstrate a proper tea party to the teabaggers?
Prediction: When his hopes of European domination have dwindled, he will move to New York, be given an American citizenship and run for the senate! Hooray!
Blair’s influence in Britain and Europe is totally spent. The British are wary of war, understandably. Europeans distrust politicians with close ties to the USA, unsurprising. I wish him well in his new adventure, suspect that history’s cruel humor has tainted the image of a man who genuinely wanted to do good.
#5: sargasso
“… tainted the image of a man who genuinely wanted to do good.”
What alternative universe are you living in? Tony B. Liar forced the UK into an unnecessary, illegal, immoral war against the better judgment of the people whom he was supposed to represent and by lying in his teeth. The only image tainting was performed by the man himself.
For this war criminal to suddenly find religion and faith reminds me of the comment made by Tom Lehrer when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize viz. “satire is dead”.
Tony Blair was devoutly Christian?
I never picked up on that before. I see from his Wikipedia entry that he converted to Catholocism in the late 90s.
Hmmm. That’s interesting. It might explain how he seemed like such a different person from his early times as PM to the later times.
… as for the actual initiative. I’ve have to see the details.
I certainly would like to see better relationships between the major religious traditions… not to consolidate power, but just to reduce conflict.
My guess, though, if Blair hooks up with the Religious Right in the US, this will be a sordid effort.
#7: Greg Allen
“Tony Blair was devoutly Christian?
I never picked up on that before.”
That is because he was so proud of his faith that he played it down for political reasons as long as he was prime minister. He knew only too well how suspicious people are of decisions taken for religious rather than rational reasons.
The word hypocrite comes to mind.
Um, It is my understanding that only one in ten in England is a Christian and the few that are average 65 years of age.
That being said exactly what kind of organization could this dude have? Muslims?