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 | | From: | stevejdufour at yahoo.com | | Subject: | Bush and Civil Religion | | Date: | 22 Jan 2005 15:18:41 -0800 |
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 | Analysis: Bush and civil religion
By Marie Horrigan
UPI Deputy Americas Editor
Washington, DC, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- President Bush capped off the four-day
flurry of inaugural events with a visit to Washington's National
Cathedral Friday, where family friend and longtime inaugural attendee
the Rev. Billy Graham opined that it was God's will George W. Bush was
in the country's top post.
It was a standard event in the series of events to commemorate a
president's new term, but some have been questioning the role of faith
in this particular president's world view after his ambitious and
expansionist inaugural speech Thursday.
Luis Lugo, director of the non-partisan Pew Center for Religion and
Public Life, said he had been fielding calls throughout the day from
Europeans struggling with the president's message, a robust plan to
spread democracy across the world.
"From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and
woman on this earth has rights and dignity and matchless value because
they bear the image of the maker of heaven and Earth," Bush said
Thursday in his second inaugural speech. "Across the generations, we
have proclaimed the imperative of self-government because no one is fit
to be a master and no one deserves to be a slave."
Advancing those ideals was the mission that created the United States
and was the "honorable achievement of our fathers," Bush said. "Now it
is the urgent requirement of our nation's security and the calling of
our time.
"So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the
growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and
culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."
Religion has been a sticking point during Bush's first term and
throughout his re-election campaign. He received overwhelming support
among Christian conservatives -- especially those who identify
themselves as "born again" -- and has been seen by some as inserting
specific Baptist language into his speeches.
Opponents also have argued that Bush used divisive issues of personal
belief, such as same- marriage, as wedge issues to drive
conservative religious voters to the polls.
But examining the speech Friday, Pew's Lugo said Bush's connection of
religious language with what he described as the "American project" is
nothing new. It was Bush's use of religion to justify a doctrine of
ambitious democratic colonialism that caused the problem.
Many Europeans came to the table wary of what they have seen as the
Bush administration's aggressive stance toward the rest of the world.
"When you add the second theme grounding arguments ultimately in
religious language that itself would cause Europeans discomfort ... the
combination of the two clearly will be profoundly disturbing to the
Europeans," Lugo said.
But, he added, Bush's comments were not overtly tied to any one faith.
They fell firmly within the bounds of so-called civil religion, the
amorphous religion most politicians refer to in their rhetoric.
And when he did make sectarian references, they came in clusters.
The United States' ideal of freedom relies on private character that is
"built in families, supported by communities with standards, and
sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on
the Mount, the words of the Koran and the varied faiths of our people,"
Bush said Thursday.
"Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is
good and true that came before, ideals of justice and conduct that are
the same yesterday, today and forever."
Several members of the Southern Baptist Convention declared themselves
satisfied with the president's inaugural speech. Evangelicals had
expressed anger in recent weeks that despite initial calls for a
constitutional amendment banning same- marriage, Bush recently
announced he would likely let the issue drop. The administration has
since backtracked, saying that the president remains interested in
codifying such moral issues but lacks sufficient support in Congress.
Lugo said he did not hear any evangelical language in the speech, but
Richard Land, director of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberties
Commission, told the Baptist Press the speech "should inspire our
nation by reminding us of who we are and where we've been and laying
out a path of where that means we should go."
Robert E. Reccord, president of the SBC's North American Mission Board,
expressed his gratitude for a president with such a prominent religious
background, but added, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
"As people of faith, we must always be vigilant as well. We don't have
the luxury of only being concerned about the issues every four years
when it's time to vote on a president," he said.
"The battles rage and the believing segment of our land must continue
to step up and be counted as we battle for the soul of our nation ...
and our next generation."
But ultimately, while the message was robust, Bush's speech fell within
historical standards, Lugo said. There is a saying that the United
States is a nation with the soul of a church. "The president certainly
continues that tradition," he said.
In his own statement, Land concurred. "In proclaiming America's
commitment to freedom and her willingness to encourage and support
those who long for that God-given freedom around the world, he is
standing in the best of American presidential tradition," he said.
--
(Please send comments to nationaldesk@upi.com.)
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| | From: | gigo448 at netscape.net | | Subject: | Re: Bush and Civil Religion | | Date: | 22 Jan 2005 15:22:57 -0800 |
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| Steve is a *moonie* wolf in sheeps clothing. Out
prosylatizing for Moon, as his ultimate agenda.
UPI belongs to MOON, you really gotta be careful
these days, appearances are usually deceiving.
Watch your back people..
Peace out
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| | From: | Mitchell Holman | | Subject: | Re: Bush and Civil Religion | | Date: | Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:01:19 -0600 |
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| stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote in news:1106435921.334686.41060
@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
> Analysis: Bush and civil religion
>
>
> By Marie Horrigan
> UPI Deputy Americas Editor
>
>
>
> Several members of the Southern Baptist Convention declared themselves
> satisfied with the president's inaugural speech.
Oh, good.
I was worried about that.
I feel better now that the Baptists
approve of Bush's speech.
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