re How to pray, etc.

[The Great Quail]

Doug writes,

> We do hear the President openly calling on God and
> talking about prayer, creating the perception we're
> fighting for God and Christ. The President is the one
> who put the whole thing in the context of a "crusade",
> too. The religious trappings of this war are obvious.

Well, I do see you point, but I think it is somewhat overstated. True, W is
born-again, but while his rhetoric certainly includes God and prayer, so did
Clinton, too, and most other Presidents. I disagree that he creates the
perception we are "fighting for God and Christ." No one hates religion in US
politics more than me, and I don't feel any stress over this. Hate the man
if you will (and I do), but I don't ever recall him saying that we were
fighting *for* God, let alone Christ. And he has been very, very careful in
avoided the C-word! (Since a very early gaffe in reference to Afghanistan,
and that was out of naïve stupidity, not any sense of Christian-right
mendacity.)

> Christian soldiers vs. Islamic warriors, followers
> seduced by religious leaders in service of obviously
> worldly goals. Considering the potential for a global
> split along these lines, yeah, I find it troubling.

Well, first of all, there are numerous Jewish, agnostic, and atheist
soldiers in the US forces, and a few Muslims, too. Then again,  Tariq Aziz
is a Christian, and so are many Palestinians, Egyptians, and Lebanese. It's
complicated.... But I do gather your main point, though I really don't think
that religion plays a major role in the US side. I would not characterize
Bush as "a religious leader," and we all know Saddam just uses Islam to
cynically manipulate the masses.

--Quail