[A-List] FW: Bush's Religious Beliefs

["Craven, Jim" <jcraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bush's Religious Beliefs
An Emerging Explanation for War Mongering

Andrew Austin
Green Bay, WI

Jackson Lears, in a recent NYTimes essay, "How a War became a Crusade,"
suggests a reason why Bush can be so cavalier about the possibility that war
in Iraq will have unintended consequences. Bush, according to Lears, "denies
the very existence of chance." He quotes Bush: "Events aren't moved by blind
change and chance." Rather, events are determined, according to Bush, by
"the hand of a just and faithful God."

Bush even sees his presidency as willed by God. As governor of Texas, he
told a friend, "I believe God wants me to run for president."

In a worldview that rests upon providence, the attack on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon, and now the rise of an "axis of evil," are
interpreted by many, including members of the Administration, as signs from
God that Bush is ordained to lead a crusade against evil.

History, according to Bush, is the unfolding of God's will. Everything is
predetermined. And in the unfolding of history, God calls on special persons
to make history in His righteous name. As the President said in his State of
the Union address, "this call of history has come to the right country."
And, obviously to the right president.

In his NYTimes essay, "God, Satan and the Media," Nicholas Kristof thinks he
knows why Bush's religious messages have mesmerized so many people. A Gallup
poll, taken in December 2002, found that 46 percent of Americans are
evangelical or born-again Christians. (Recall that 45 percent of Americans
believe that Saddam Hussein was "personally involved" in 9-11. I wonder how
many of these are the same people.)

The most recent Gallup poll puts the number of born-again Christians at 41%.
Eighteen percent of Americans describe themselves as religious right. Among
born-again Christians, Bush's popularity stands at 74%. For all others, it
is 50%. (In other words, half of all non-evangelicals do not approve of
Bush's performance.)

Gallup's analysis: "The fact that this conservative and deeply religious
president is a Republican, is directly in line with the overall pattern of
religious beliefs in American politics. Most scholars agree that there is a
substantial relationship between strong religious faith, particularly within
conservative, evangelical Protestant denominations, and identification with
the Republican Party."

It is important to note that not all Protestants, let alone all Christians,
consider themselves born-again, identify with the born-again worldview, or
consider themselves on the political right. Tens of millions of Christians
are liberals and millions more are centrists. Also, not all born-again
Christians are right wingers. Black Americans who identify themselves as
born-again are in overwhelming numbers registered Democrats.

Nevertheless, while I knew there was a fundamentalist mood sweeping the
nation, I did not know so many Americans described themselves as
evangelical. That nearly one-fifth of Americans self-identifies as religious
right is quite telling. Any explanation for public support for a war in Iraq
must account for the degree and character of religiosity in the United
States. This includes Bush's religious views.

Kristof puts it this way: "It's impossible to understand President Bush
without acknowledging the centrality of his faith." Bush's war efforts
reflect a "messianic vision...to...'remake' the Middle East." This vision
resonates with so many of Bush's followers, because the faithful agree with
the President that he has been chosen by history - that is, by God - to
democratize - Christianize? - the Islamic world.

The Middle East obviously has tremendous significance for Christians. But it
has extra-special significance for born-again Christians. Reagan tapped into
these sentiments when he spoke about Armageddon and the existence of an
"Evil Empire." (Why was so little made of the fact that Nancy, Reagan wife,
consulted astrology charts to influence the direction of her husband's
policies?) Now Bush is tapping into these sentiments.

We do not need to speculate about this. We know that the policy wonks bring
their war plans to the President and he and members of his administration
pray over the vision and translate the text into articles of faith. I
suspect that administration officials have been focusing on Revelations
big-time in their daily bible studies.

All this was exposed by one of Bush's key speechwriters, the man who coined
the phrase "axis of evil." His name is David Frum, and, according to his new
book, The Right Man, he, Bush, and others who worked on the Axis of Evil
speech, desired very much to create an enemy the equivalent of Reagan's Evil
Empire.

Julian Borger, a journalist for The Guardian, discussed these matters with
Frum in an article published January 28, 2003. In the interview, Frum "talks
about the disconcerting grip evangelical Christianity has on the White
House."

How did the axis of evil line come about? According to Frum (through
Borger), "Michael Gerson approaches Frum a few weeks before the pivotal
State of the Union address and tells him, 'Here's an assignment. Can you sum
up in a sentence or two our best case for going after Iraq?'" This was in
late December 2001 (please note the date).

"The phrase Frum comes up with is 'axis of hatred,' describing the ominous
but ill-defined links between Iraq and terrorism. It is Gerson who tweaks
the phrase into the 'axis of evil,' to make it sound more 'theological.'"
Frum really liked the phrase. He says, "'It was the sort of language
President Bush used.'"

Borger: "According to Frum, the Bush White House is in the grip of Christian
evangelism. The first words he hears on his first day at work are: 'Missed
you at Bible study' - a rebuke to his new boss, Gerson, from some unnamed
Bush lieutenant. Attendance at such sessions were 'if not compulsory, not
quite uncompulsory either.'" Frum is Jewish, but he was nevertheless
expected to wade through the New Testament with the President.

Frum, who worked with the President for 13 months, says that Bush "believes
that the future is in 'stronger hands than his own.'"

"It is a theme which is beginning to emerge from the Bush administration,"
writes Borger. "While most people saw the extraordinary circumstances of the
2000 election as a fluke, Bush and his closest supporters saw it as yet
another sign he was chosen to lead. Later, September 11 'revealed' what he
was there for."

The parallels with conservative politics of the 1980s are quite striking.

Grace Halsell, in his Prophecy and Politics: Militant Evangelists on the
Road to Nuclear War (1986), quotes James Robison (a TV evangelist):
"'There'll be no peace until Jesus comes. Any preaching of peace prior to
this return is heresy; it's against the word of God; it's Anti-Christ.'"
Ronald Reagan invited Robison to deliver the opening prayer at the 1984
Republican National Convention. Why? Because Reagan believed, as early as
1971, that "'everything is in place for the battle of Armageddon and the
Second Coming of Christ.'"

Under Reagan, Jerry Falwell was permitted to attend National Security
Council briefings. Armageddonist Hal Lindsey met with Pentagon strategists
to discuss nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

That the White House believed that they were on a mission from God helps us
understand why selling weapons to an enemy nation and working with cocaine
traffickers to fund a dirty war in Central America never seemed to trouble
Reagan's conscience. (Why hasn't it troubled more Americans?)

Holly Sklar, in Reagan, Trilateralism, and the Neoliberals (1986) writes,
"For many rollbackers, Armageddon is the pre-ordained preface to the Second
Coming and its theocracy of Christian believers. Ronald Reagan is the
Believer-in-Chief. In 1971, then Governor Reagan remarked:

		In the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, it says that the land of
Israel will come under attack by the armies of the ungodly nations and it
says that Libya will be among them. Do you understand the significance of
that? Libya has now gone communist, and that's a sign that the day of
Armageddon isn't that far off...Everything is falling into place...Ezekiel
tells us that Gog, the nation that will lead all of the other powers of
darkness against Israel, will come out of the north...now that Russia has
become communist and atheistic, now that Russia has set itself against God.
Now it fits the description of Gog perfectly.

Sklar continues: "In 1983, President Reagan told People magazine:
'theologians... have said that never...has there ever been a time in which
so many of the prophecies are coming together. There have been times in the
past when people thought the end of the world was coming and so forth, but
never anything like this.' In the fundamentalist prophecies of Armageddon
good Christians will be saved from nuclear holocaust and lifted to heaven in
the Rapture. Armageddonists don't need to believe Star Wars will provide an
impenetrable shield. It just has to help out by buying some time for the
Rapture."

So strong is the belief in rapture and that the end-time is near in our
country that the ridiculous becomes possible:

		ARKANSAS CITY (EAP) -- A Little Rock woman was killed
yesterday after leaping through her moving car's sun roof during an incident
best described as "a mistaken rapture" by dozens of eye witnesses. Thirteen
other people were injured after a twenty-car pile up resulted from people
trying to avoid hitting the woman who was apparently convinced that the
rapture was occurring when she saw twelve people floating up into the air,
and then passed a man on the side of the road who she claimed was Jesus.

		"She started screaming "He's back, He's back" and climbed
right out of the sunroof and jumped off the roof of the car," said Everett
Williams, husband of 28-year-old Georgann Williams who was pronounced dead
at the scene. "I was slowing down but she wouldn't wait till I stopped,"
Williams said. "She thought the rapture was happening and was convinced that
Jesus was gonna lift her up into the sky," he went on to say.

		"This is the strangest thing I've seen since I've been on
the force," said Paul Madison, first officer on the scene. Madison
questioned the man who looked like Jesus and discovered that he was dressed
up as Jesus and was on his way to a toga costume party when the tarp
covering the bed of his pickup truck came loose and released twelve
inflatable sex dolls filled with helium which floated up into the air.

		Ernie Jenkins, 32, of Fort Smith, who's been told by several
of his friends that he looks like Jesus, pulled over and lifted his arms
into the air in frustration, and said, "Come back here," just as the
Williams' car passed him, and Mrs. Williams was sure that it was Jesus
lifting people up into the sky as they passed by him, according to her
husband, who says his wife loved Jesus more than anything else.

Consider also the current rage on the Christian right, the "Left Behind"
series. The upcoming book in the series is titled Armageddon. The
publisher's blurb reads, "Prepare For The Release Of Armageddon. On April 8,
2003, Book 11 in the Left Behind Series releases in stores everywhere. No
one will escape Armageddon and few will live through the battle to see the
Glorious Appearing."

These publications are targeting children. The Left Behind industry has a
"Kids Series." A blurb from the publisher: "With over ten million copies
sold, Left Behind: The Kids Series is a favorite for all ages. Following a
group of teens that were 'left behind,' and are determined to stand up for
God no matter what the costs, they are tested at every turn."

At the Left Behind web site (http://www.leftbehind.com/), they have a video
promotion for Armageddon replete with footage of American troops in Kuwait.

Linking war with Iraq to an eschatological view of history intersects with
the problem of ignorance of just war principles. The President, a born-again
Christian, shares the worldview of southern evangelicals. Neither he nor
they concern themselves with the justness of war nor do they worry much
about the consequences of war. God has given Reagan's "shinning city upon
the hill" this war and we should simply put our trust in the Lord (and
Bush). Through providence, God will work his will. We have as a nation only
to take up the divine task.

We can now understand better the source of the extraordinary passion of
contemporary war mongering and the intense antipathy towards those who
oppose war. Not only are those who oppose Bush "unpatriotic" and
"unAmerican," but they are also heretical for refusing to accept the mission
that God has made for all of us. Peace activists are thwarting the crusade.
They are godless liberals bent on tearing down the nation and this president
whom God has chosen for greatness.

Lears emphasizes another problem that faith in providence brings: "it
sanitizes the messy actualities of war and its aftermath. Like the
strategists' faith in smart bombs, faith in Providence frees one from having
to consider the role of chance in armed conflict, the least predictable of
human affairs. Between divine will and American know-how, we have everything
under control."

How dense is reactionary religious fervor? We are moving into an era, Lears
warns, where the "more humane interpretations of" Christianity, Islam, and
Judaism, "are increasingly ignored." The major faiths are bending towards
fundamentalism, where "the ideologues take command, convinced that they are
doing God's will."

Might this nation, by allowing this worldview to be articulated by our
official spokespersons, lose our moral authority to condemn the religious
extremism of those parts of the world Bush says are currently in shadow? I
think we are already seeing the erosion of American prestige around the
world. The US may now not even ask the UN for a resolution, knowing that it
will fail in the Security Council. So driven is this president by his
calling that we are going to go into Iraq without the support of the world.
In fact, we are going in despite the opposition of the global community.

Indeed, I have since 9-11 found more than curious the tone of the President
and how much his rhetoric sounds like the rhetoric of those with whom we are
at war. We are told that fundamentalist Islam hates us because we leave too
little room for God. They resent our liberal freedoms - freedom of speech,
faith, conscience, and, especially, the separation of Church and State. They
have attacked America, we are told, because the United States shows the rest
of the world how officially separating religion from politics and letting
reason guide our decisions makes a better society. We are more tolerant,
humane, and rational because these values.

Yet, the President of the United States is stating publicly that God, who is
behind all of history, is not neutral in human affairs, that God take sides,
and that, in fact, God has taken our side, and George Bush is the leader of
the moment, carrying out God's will. No reason is needed - only faith
matters.

The president is sounding like the intolerant extremist Islamic voices he
condemns.

One social science benefit to these happenings is that it illustrates W. I.
Thomas' famous theorem, the "definition of a situation." He writes (I am
paraphrasing), "If a person believes a situation is real, then it is real in
its consequences." What people believe about the world plays a role in
determining their actions. When these people are in tremendous power, their
actions condition the fate of millions. The most powerful nation in world
history is currently being led by a regime that believes it is called upon
by God to rid the world of evil. What will be the impact of its actions?



  Tautological Hubris
     Jim Craven

  We,
  are Americans,
  "Number One", you know,
  just ask us;
  "Number One" in what?
  money, for instance,
  and that buys everything else
  of "worth".
  We are the most, among nations,
  in God's Grace;
  How do we know?
  we're "Number One",
  and only those in God's Grace,
  would God make "Number One",
  that is the evidence, the "proof",
  it is all very Calvinist,
  and purely tautological.
  And only those in God's Grace,
  have the "Truth",
  that is also the evidence, the "proof",
  that we are in God's grace,
  and have the truth,
  since only those with the "Truth",
  could be in God's Grace,
  and vice versa,
  it is all very Calvinist,
  and purely tautological.
  And how can those with the "Truth",
  be wrong?
  or not act in accordance with the "Truth"?
  and that is the evidence, the "proof",
  that we have the "Truth",
  and act in accordance with it,
  because what we believe,
  and what we do,
  keeps us in God's Grace,
  "therefore", we must have the "Truth",
  and must be acting in accordance with it,
  it is all very Calvinist,
  and purely tautological.
  And since those who have the "Truth",
  and act in accordance with it,
  are the Good and the Blessed,
  we must be the Good and Blessed,
  we have the "Truth",
  and act in accordance with it,
  which means that those who do not believe as we do,
  or act as we act,
  must not have the "Truth",
  or be acting in accordance with it,
  they must not be in God's Grace,
  they must be Evil and the Damned;
  it is all very Calvinist,
  and purely tautological.

  Jim Craven