On Tuesday in Muskegon, Michigan a man raised his hand and silenced a crowd eagerly awaiting the arrival of their guest. \We are gathered here to lift high the name of Jesus Christ,"" he reminded the crowd; he then addressed God and candidly stated about his guest, ""We know you appointed him to the position."" He was at a campaign rally, introducing the President of the United States.
When Mr. Bush was considering tossing his hat in the ring, he attended a sermon about a hesitant Moses unsure of his leadership qualities. Afterward, his mother told him he was that Moses figure, and the sermon was a calling from above. Mr. Bush's entire presidency is founded on an interpretation of divine will.
The current president's faith has been deftly presented to the nation as a source of absolute strength and certainty in uncertain times. Mr. Bush is not the first president to be overtly religious or to really mean ""May God Bless America,"" but a problem emerges when the faith of the man determines the course of the state.
Mr. Bush has repeatedly made use of biblical themes to rationalize his wayward policies. In the six-month prelude to the Iraq war Mr. Bush used the word ""evil"" no less than 350 times. The word ""evil"" does not exist outside of a religious context; it was originally used to describe Satan, in contrast to the absolute good of God. Mr. Bush's use of the word to describe Iran, for example, represents a dangerous black and white view of the world. Not only does this typecast our enemies as God's enemies, but it also gives our actions a near sacrosanct quality, making them impervious to question. Mr. Bush feels that the invasion of Iraq was an extension of divine will, not just his own.
But Mr. Bush is not just some kind of retro regal hanging out in right field on his own; he is the product of a party that interprets God's law as its own. The most famous example of this is gay marriage. Ed Gillespie, chairman of the GOP, has said supporting gay marriage would be analogous to ""turning my back on the tenets of my faith."" The GOP is using the issue to present itself as the party that exclusively defends Christianity, and it has worked. In a time when 60 percent of the country believes that religion alone could solve the nation's problems, the GOP's talk of faith has paid off big time.
They have succeeded in merging age-old republican beliefs with so-called moral ones creating a single political agenda; issues like gun control, taxes, and government deregulation of industry have become incorporated into the Christian base of the GOP. Republicans have miraculously transformed the turn-the-other-cheek Jesus into an assault weapon-wielding supporter of big tobacco. Mr. Bush has made the omnipotent a tendentious ally of his administration.
The GOP has made no secret that America is a nation under God, and therefore it is a nation naturally supportive of Mr. Bush. In August the Bush-Cheney Campaign openly petitioned 1,600 friendly congregations for lists of parishioners, blurring the boundaries between worship and electioneering.
When faced with a president who believes that he is God's candidate, a president from a party which has exploited Christianity as a means of securing Congressional seats, I take heart in knowing that the foundations of the separation of Church and State were laid in more troubled times. The First Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1791, after the founding fathers had suffered the reign of a king claiming a divine right to rule. They broke from the tendency to rule according to a divine right, and ensured that America would never have to endure another King George. Here's hoping we can do it again.
Jake Herrera is a sophomore majoring in international studies. He can be reached at opinion@dailycardinal.com. His column runs every other Monday in The Daily Cardinal.
