The Slipper Tongue

President Bush kept a painting of a pack of horsemen trailing a cowboy in the Oval Office. It reminded him of John Wesley, the circuit-riding preacher who founded Methodism, Bush’s faith. In reality, the painting was an illustration for a short story called “The Slipper Tongue,” and depicts a lynch mob hunting down a horse […]

President Bush kept a painting of a pack of horsemen trailing a cowboy in the Oval Office. It reminded him of John Wesley, the circuit-riding preacher who founded Methodism, Bush’s faith.

In reality, the painting was an illustration for a short story called “The Slipper Tongue,” and depicts a lynch mob hunting down a horse thief, as this story from United Methodist News Service relates.

The painting, and its interpretation, also illustrates Methodists’ ambivalence toward Bush’s presidency, as the article goes on to say, with some bishops saying he flaunted the church’s social principles, and others applauding the president’s very public piety.


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