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July 25, 2008 4:53:38 PM CDT

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Faith Doesn't Play in British Politics

Posted Nov 25, 07 6:18 PM CST in World,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – Soon-to-be-Catholic Tony Blair has confessed that faith was "hugely important"  in decisions he made as Britain's prime minister, and he wished he could, like President Bush, have been open about it at the time. But Britons are suspicious of religion, Blair said in a TV interview reported in the Telegraph. "You talk about it in our system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter."  

Blair, whose communications director famously said, "We don't do God,"  admitted that religion influenced the decision to send British troops to Iraq. His comments, which will be broadcast next Sunday, were welcomed by religious leaders; critics said religious zeal blinded him to the consequences of his decision to support the war in Iraq. Blair, now a Mideast peace envoy,  is expected to finalize his conversion to Catholicism very soon.

Source Daily Telegraph (UK)

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Pope Benedict XVI, right, meets with outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a private audience at the Vatican last June. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, HO)   (Associated Press)
Former British prime minister Tony Blair speaking at the Saban Forum earlier this month. Blair recently admitted that his religious views influenced his decisions while in office.   (Getty Images)
Alastair Campbell signs a copy of his book 'The Blair Years' at a book shop in London last July. Alastair Campbell is a former Labour Party media director who worked alongside Britain's former prime...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq war  • Great Britain  • religion  • Tony Blair  • Christianity  • Catholicism  • government  • God


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