“The (Pope’s) trip begins in Washington, and the White House has announced that the pope and the president will “continue their dialogue on the interplay of faith and reason.”
Announcement concerning the upcoming Papal visit to America
Pope Benedict XVI — “Tell me Mr. President how do you understand the interplay of faith and reason?”
President Bush — “Well, all I know is that I am the decider. I mean — I know that I decide… er, uh, rather I decide that I know.”
Pope Benedict XVI — “I see. Well, Mr. President do you decide on the basis of faith or reason or some combination thereof.”
President Bush — “I was a ‘C’ student at Yale, and only crawled out of the bottle when I was in my 30’s. In my 40’s I ran a baseball team. Following that I parlayed my name recognition, my father’s connections, and my recently established sobriety into the Texas Gubernatorial Mansion. What do I know of either faith or reason?”
Pope Benedict XVI — “I thought we were going to talk about the interplay of faith and reason.”
President Bush — “That’s boring. Hey, I’ve got an idea, I’ll call up Karl Rove and the three of us can talk about Machiavellian manipulation. Now, there’s a conversation to which I can contribute.”
Pope Benedict XVI — “But Mr. President I thought you said ‘that Jesus was your favorite political philosopher.’ Certainly you must have some thoughts on the interplay of faith and reason.”
President Bush — “Ok, Ok, already…, anybody ever told you that when you latch on to something you’re like a dog with a bone? When I said that ‘Jesus was my favorite political philosopher,’ I had faith that statement would manipulate the reason of the religious right. That is the closest to faith and reason interplay that I get B-16. Hey, want a shot of Wild Turkey?”
Pope Benedict XVI — “No thank you. I’ve already hit the sacramental wine to hard today.”
