Our government, and specifically the current administration has tried over and over again to deny charges that the U.S. is fighting a holy war against Islam. You might remember thBush using the word 'crusade' in a speech soon after 9/11, but quickly had to back track and change his language. A U.S. News Wire report released today reminds us that Bush even went as far as to say, "Islam is Peace... When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that's made brothers and sisters out of every race." Well, a high ranking member of the Department of Defense has reopened the pandora's box that Bush was successful, at least here in the states, of shutting two years ago.
Lt. Gen. William Boykin, the new deputy undersecretary of defense of intelligence, has characterized the war on terrorism as a war against Satan. The Toronto Star reports that he "has said publicly that he sees the war on terrorism as a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan." Boyken has even said that when he was in Somalia and battling against a Muslim warlord, "I knew my god was bigger than his. I knew that my god was a real god and his was an idol." Needless to say, that this is not faring very well in Muslim circles, and it certainly doesn't help that the United States is already largely thought of as Anti-Muslim overseas, and it is certainly not unheard of for someone to accuse the U.S. of fighting a new crusades.
Boyken has also opened up another argument that has been going on in this country for a long time, and has been rearing its ugly head in recent months again. That is the argument over the seperation of church and state. Boykin has said the reason that Islamic fundamentalists hate us is "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christians. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan." Well, it is true that our roots are largely Judeo-Christian, but it is not true that we are a Christian nation. That would be a clear violation of the seperation of church and state. Some people will argue that the Ten Commandment are not a violation. They will argue that saying, 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance is not a violation(The Supreme Court will determine that soon enough). However, only a fool, or a Christian Fundamentalist would argue that saying we are a Christian nation is not a violation of the Constitution. You may think I am dissecting Boyken's words too carefully, but I haven't told you the worst part yet. He delivered this speech in a church and in his uniform. That's right, he was wearing a U.S. military uniform when he said that the U.S. is a Christian nation.
If you are not convinced that this guy, Boyken, is a total whacko, he also thinks that Bush was selected by God to be the President. Alert Net has reported that he said, "Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. Why is he there? And I tell you this morning that he's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this." Oh, I see. So, it wasn't the Supreme Court that decided to bypass our democracy to put Bush in the White House, it was the Supreme Being. At least now I know who to blame.
Now you might be wondering what does Donald Rumsfeld think about all this. Take heart, he is happy to point to our country's freedoms, "There are a lot of things that are said by people that are their views, and that's the way we live. We are free people and that's the wonderful thing about our country, and I think for anyone to run around and think that can be managed or controlled is probably wrong." What? Does he not know what this lunatic said? Does he not know that he delivered his sermons wearing his military uniform? I agree with Rumsfeld that people have a right to their views, but they don't have a right to express that views while wearing a unform that represents National servitude. Also, I would prefer that a guy with such influence over our military at least fulfill one requirement: sanity.