The Sunday Times - Comment

October 24, 2004

Comment: Andrew Sullivan: Bush and Kerry stoke fires of a religious
war at home

"He truly believes he's on a mission from God. Absolute faith like
that overwhelms a need for analysis. The whole thing about faith is to
believe things for which there is no empirical evidence." That is the
view of a disillusioned Republican, Bruce Bartlett, formerly of the
Reagan and first Bush administrations, now one of a growing number who
feel shut out of the current Republican leadership because they are
not "born again".

There are of course plenty of senior Bush officials (and Republicans)
who are not evangelical Christians. There are even some evangelical
Christians who are Democrats. But it is hard to observe the activities
and passion of the Republican base these days without wondering
whether a tipping point has not been reached in the fusion of faith
and politics in the United States. 

(snip)

[Bush] "I believe that God wants everybody to be free. That's what 
I believe. And that's one part of my foreign policy. In Afghanistan 
I believe that the freedom there is a gift from the Almighty. And 
I can't tell you how encouraged I am to see freedom on the march. 
And so my principles that I make decisions on are a part of me. 
And religion is a part of me."

Bush is always careful to distinguish between his faith and the
freedom of others who do not share it. It is unfair to paint him as
intolerant. He has been particularly careful not to stigmatise Islam
in the past few years. And yet he also clearly favours policies of
faith rather than reason. 

(snip)

And for many of the true faithful, Bush is an almost messianic figure.
At this year's convention of the Texas Republican party, one pastor
prayed: "Give us Christians in America who are more wholehearted, 
more committed and more militant for you and your kingdom than any
fanatical Islamic terrorists are for death and destruction. I want to
be one of those Christians." That is the molten core of the Republican
party.

(snip)

Who will win this religious war? ItAEs still too close to call. But
inasmuch as people's deepest and most mysterious beliefs are being
dragged more and more into the public square, America loses. It is 
one thing to have religious rhetoric and language in public. That 
is the American way. It is another to base political appeals on 
religious grounds - whether crudely or subtly.

It is one of the saddest ironies of our time that as America tries 
to calm the fires of theocracy abroad, it should be stoking milder
versions of the same at home.

Full article at Times Online ...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-1325334,00.html


Cheers, Steve..

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