Karl Rove lets slip a little inside information:
What must Bush make of that? [Karl Rove being an atheist]
I think it’s false to say that the president acts as if he believes he has God’s instructions. Compared to Jimmy Carter, he’s nowhere. He’s a Methodist, having joined his wife’s church in the end. He also claims that Jesus got him off the demon drink. He doesn’t believe it. His wife said, “If you don’t stop, I’m leaving and I’m taking the kids.” You can say that you got help from Jesus if you want, but that’s just a polite way of putting it in Texas.
I never trust any so-called Christian who prefers to refer to Christ instead of Jesus or Jesus Christ. I was certain that Bush was a complete fraud once I heard his answer about his favorite philosopher being “Christ”.
Brent also makes some good points about the difference between atheism the unbelief and atheism the ur-religion. He’s absolutely correct, regarding both the distinction between the two and his apparent distrust of the latter.