President George W. Bush, Karen Hughes and Karl Rove in the conference room aboard Air Force One. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
It seems that there is tremendous interest in the possibility that Karl Rove is an atheist. The recent post in which I quoted Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, as saying that Rove "is not a believer" generated great interest. In this post, I'll consider other evidence that confirms Hitchens' statement and discuss the implications of Rove's atheism.
Hitchens on Karl Rove and Bush
We start with Christopher Hitchens. What exactly did he say, and what was the context of his statement? During an interview with New York Magazine, Hitchens was asked whether he thought an openly atheistic candidate would ever be elected in the United States. He answered in the affirmative and was then asked whether anyone in the Bush administration has ever disclosed atheism to him. He replied,
Well, I don’t talk that much to them—maybe people think I do. I know something which is known to few but is not a secret. Karl Rove is not a believer, and he doesn’t shout it from the rooftops, but when asked, he answers quite honestly. I think the way he puts it is, “I’m not fortunate enough to be a person of faith.”