Selling skin, selling god, the numbers look the same on their credit cards

[S.R. Prozak]

www.educatedcitizen.com
Fighting God's War 
By Humayun Akhtar 

By frequently referring to religion and God in his speeches, is George Bush trying to tell the world that God is on America's side? 

John Donnelly of The Boston Globe observes: "In the midst of a war on terrorism and before a war in Iraq, two combatants are not shy about invoking the name of God. And both President Bush and Osama bin Laden fervently assert that God is on their side." 

In his rare interview with Dan Rather, President Saddam Hussein talked of Allah and Islam when asked about his exile, defeat and death. Likewise, President Bush in a press conference told of the divine mission he has been entrusted with to save America and chase evil from the world. Osama bin Laden in his tapes always invokes religion in his fatwas to kill infidels. 

In which God do they believe? There is only one God, and He must be in a fix as to whom to support. The president's reliance on faith and his expressed confidence that God blesses America, especially in speeches that deal with the need to confront Iraq, greatly concern some scholars. 

Scholars cited several recent passages from the president's speeches. In the speech to religious broadcasters, in which he used the word "faith" 29 times, Bush said: "I welcome faith to help solve the nation's deepest problems." 

On Feb 6, at the National Prayer Breakfast, Bush called America a "nation of prayer" and said: "We can also be confident in the ways of Providence, even when they are far from our understanding. Events aren't moved by blind change and chance. Behind all of life and all of history, there's a dedication and purpose, set by the hand of a just and faithful God." 

In his State of the Union address on Jan 28, immediately after citing dangers posed by Iraq, Bush called on Americans to place "our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history." 

"May He guide us now," the president concluded his address. "And may God continue to bless the United States of America." 

David Little, a professor of religion and international affairs at Harvard Divinity School, said that when Bush uses such religious imagery over and over "in a way, he plays to Osama bin Laden's strong suit. It's his morals against ours, or his God against ours, which is exactly what you don't want to get in a position of saying." 

Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, has said repeatedly that the president makes his judgments on Iraq and other issues as a "secular leader." But many outsiders point to what they perceive as a missionary zeal and spin to some of the administration's major decisions. Some also point to the possible influence of Bush's speechwriter, Michael Gerson, an evangelical Christian. 

The frequent use of religion in Bush's speeches also came amid a conflict within religious circles on whether to go to war against Iraq. Pope Jean Paul II has spoken against a war and for a negotiated peace, as has the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Most US theologians and political analysts agree that Bush is sincere when he repeatedly says the fight against terrorism is not a war between Christians and Muslims. But they also worry that many around the world will begin to interpret it as a religious war, especially when the US president uses religious references again and again in talking about a conflict with Iraq. Thus, scholars say they wish Bush would tone down his religious references. 

"The more I listen to him, the more truly worried I become about the vision for this country in the world," said Hurst Hannum, a professor of international law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. "It's so American-centric, so Christian-centric. It's so certain. I guess I worry about anyone who is that sure he is right." 

"Unfortunately, if you polled a lot of people on the street in America, I fear that because of bin Laden's words they would tell you that most Muslims support terrorism. That is so wrong and so unfair." "By the same token, if you walk on the streets of Baghdad, or in some European cities, you will find the person on the street with the perception that evangelical Christians support a war on Iraq. That is not true, either. But those are real perceptions." 


NO GODS          NO MASTERS
           -I-
NO SLAVES        NO MORALS


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