In 2001, Bush described his vision of a war on terrorism as a “crusade.” It quickly became a diplomatic disaster — when Muslims in the Middle East heard a Christian president talking about a “crusade,” it reinforced fears about a conquering power, bent on hegemony. Bush, thankfully, has been careful not to use the word again.
And yet, coinciding with an aggressive campaign-season strategy, characterizing counter-terrorism efforts in religious terms is quickly becoming more commonplace. A couple of weeks ago, the far-right’s favorite, “Islamofascism,” entered the White House’s vocabulary. Yesterday, Bush took this one step further.
President Bush said yesterday that he senses a “Third Awakening” of religious devotion in the United States that has coincided with the nation’s struggle with international terrorists, a war that he depicted as “a confrontation between good and evil.”
Bush told a group of conservative journalists that he notices more open expressions of faith among people he meets during his travels, and he suggested that might signal a broader revival similar to other religious movements in history. Bush noted that some of Abraham Lincoln’s strongest supporters were religious people “who saw life in terms of good and evil” and who believed that slavery was evil. Many of his own supporters, he said, see the current conflict in similar terms.
“A lot of people in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including me,” Bush said during a 1 1/2 -hour Oval Office conversation on cultural changes and a battle with terrorists that he sees lasting decades.
There seem to be two points here, which Bush has chosen to connect. On the one hand, there’s some notion about a growing religious fervor in the United States, which some have argued is a “Third Awakening,” following trends in the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. Bush believes we’re in the midst of another now, and he’s certainly entitled to his opinion.
But then there’s the other hand.
Based on his comments yesterday, the president is under the impression that he’s driving this “Third Awakening” personally, by allegedly launching a war on terror. In other words, Bush is not only taking responsibility for Americans turning to Christianity in greater numbers, he also believes the war on terror is a motivating factor, if not the motivating factor.
These remarks touch on a point that isn’t entirely new, but is quite disconcerting. [tag]Kevin Phillips[/tag]’ most recent book, “American Theocracy,” for example, based in part on the idea that Bush is heading “the first religious party in U.S. history,” basing life-and-death policy decisions on the power of “the tens of millions of true believers viewing events through a Left Behind perspective.” Shortly after the book was published, Bush reinforced Phillips’ thesis.
Speaking to a business group in Irvine, Ca.,… Bush also explained, in unusually stark terms, how his belief in [tag]God[/tag] [tag]influences[/tag] his [tag]foreign policy[/tag].
“I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true,” he said. “One, I believe there’s an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody’s soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free. I believe liberty is universal. I believe people want to be free. And I know that democracies do not war with each other.”
There’s also recent reporting from [tag]Seymour Hersh[/tag].
Current and former military and intelligence officials have told me that the President remains convinced that it is his personal mission to bring democracy to Iraq, and that he is impervious to political pressure, even from fellow Republicans. They also say that he disparages any information that conflicts with his view of how the war is proceeding.
Bush’s closest advisers have long been aware of the religious nature of his policy commitments. In recent interviews, one former senior official, who served in Bush’s first term, spoke extensively about the connection between the President’s religious faith and his view of the war in Iraq. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the former official said, he was told that Bush felt that “God put me here” to deal with the war on terror. The President’s belief was fortified by the Republican sweep in the 2002 congressional elections; Bush saw the victory as a purposeful message from God that “he’s the man,” the former official said. Publicly, Bush depicted his reelection as a referendum on the war; privately, he spoke of it as another manifestation of [tag]divine[/tag] purpose.
Bush’s policies have been frightening enough; the idea that he believes he’s on some kind of religious crusade is simply breathtaking.
