PBS's Frontline broadcast a documentary entitled, "The Jesus Factor." It was an hour long program about Bush's relationship with God. One thing that I have learned, having grown up in an Evangelical Christian home, is that Christians can not, and will not, seperate Christ from the decisions they make in their lives. In fact, it is completely contrary to their interpretation of the Bible. If you are an Evangelical Christian, then you live life through God's good grace alone. So, needless to say, it would be very difficult, and surprising, if we elected an Evangelical Christian as our president, and to ask that president to consult the Constitution before he consults the Bible. So, unless you want the seedlings of a theocracy to be planted, then it is best not to elect an Evangelical president. Well, too late.
In Slate today, Dana Stevens wrote this about "The Jesus Factor":
"If you have the conservative Christian vote in an American election, you can dispense with almost everyone else. Doug Wead, a Bush family friend and political consultant on matters concerning the religious right, estimates that evangelical Christians make up 25 percent of the nation, and that of those who vote, a solid two-thirds are Republican."
Bush has been pulling this country so far to the right that it is not hard to see why Evangelicals will vote for him. However, I have always been under the impression that oftentimes people turn to God because of hard times. Isn't it strange that we have had some of the toughest years under a Bush presidency? I wonder how many Christians he's converted, or, perhaps the better question is: How many Bush voters has he converted by being an abysmal president?
It is strange to me, as someone who is passionately curious about religions in general, how believers can find comfort in some of the most discomforting situations as long as their God is being invoked. Bush constantly evokes God, or good, in his war on terrorism rhetoric. How is it that many Christians can find comfort in a president that believes that it his duty to spread freedom around the world? Don't they realize what kind of terror that president would have to expel on those nations that he is attempting to free? Perhaps, sadly, they don't realize. Maybe, their heads have been bowed so low for so long that they can't take the time to look up and see the mess Bush has made in God's name.
Here is one more quote to leave you with from Slate:
"Southern Baptist leader Richard Land recalls the afternoon of Bush's second gubernatorial inauguration, when Bush gathered a few trusted colleagues in his office to announce, 'God wants me to be president.'"
That has to be the most horrifying display of arrogance I have ever heard.
You can also hear an audio report about "The Jesus Factor on NPR's Fresh Air.