President Bush has been one of the most openly religiouspresidents in our history. This is great, as long as he does not"cross the line."
And for the most part, Bush's actions seem within standards ofacceptability. He may appoint an extreme right wing religious judgeor adviser every now and then. He may push abstinence-onlyeducation, a partial-birth abortions ban and funding forfaith-based groups. Hey, I may not agree with some of Bush'sreligiously-motivated political moves, but that's okay, it's notlike people are getting killed because of them.
Or are they?
According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz and the WashingtonPost, Bush told Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Abu Mazen inJune 2003, "God told me to strike at al Qaeda, and I struck them,and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam [Hussein], which Idid, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the MiddleEast. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections willcome, and I will have to focus on them."
Bush supporters, try to demolish this statement's authenticityif you'd like (I've tried.) You have my invitation and blessing.It's not on solid ground but no strong blow has crushed thelikelihood of its factuality (it's like Bush's National Guardrecord.) I'd like nothing better than for our president to not bethinking in such a manner. The problem is that I'm afraid it'squite probable that he could be. We've seen signs of thisbefore.
According to Richard Land, a Southern Baptist leader, Bush toldhim in 1999, "I believe God wants me to be president, but if thatdoesn't happen, it's okay." A Sept. 9, 2002 Time magazine articleclaimed, "Privately, Bush even talked of being chosen by the graceof God to lead at that moment (during 9/11) and perhaps hewas."
Some within the Bush administration share these views. MSNBC.comreported that the man Bush appointed to hunt down Osama bin Laden,Lt.-Gen. William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense, said"Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans didnot vote for him. Why is he there? He's in the White House becauseGod put him there for a time such as this." Boykin hascharacterized the war against terrorism as a battle againstSatan.
Now being religious and spiritual is fine. Thinking that Godwants you to be president and has sent you on a holy mission istroubling.
How much of Bush's decision to invade Iraq may have beeninfluenced by what he perceived to be God wanting him to do so? Orrather, how would that viewpoint shape the way in which he and hisadministration dealt with the intelligence they were selectivelygathering and interpreting? After all, if you know that Saddam hasto go, any conflicting data must be wrong.
That's what all this comes down to. Buy into the Ha'aretz quoteand the God theory or not, with this presidency it's been shootfirst, ask questions later. It's been "this is what we believe, nowlet's find the information to 'prove it,' ignoring all evidence tothe contrary."
Without the constraint of having to worry about beingre-elected, we can only imagine where Bush could take us next.
E-mail: swimminginbrokenglass@yahoo.com
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