"No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God".  George W. H. Bush (Sr.,)  August 27, 1987

Moral Values: Torture v. Gay Marriage *

This is one of the great euphemisms of our time. Extraordinary rendition is the name that's been given to the policy of seizing individuals without even the semblance of due process and sending them off to be interrogated by regimes known to practice torture. In terms of bad behavior, it stands side by side with contract killings.  Our henchmen in places like Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Uzbekistan and Jordan are torturing terror suspects at the behest of a nation - the United States - that just went through a national election in which the issue of moral values was supposed to have been decisive. How in the world did we become a country in which gays' getting married is considered an abomination, but torture is O.K.?  As Ms. Mayer [of the New Yorker] pointed out: "Terrorism suspects in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East have often been abducted by hooded or masked American agents, then forced onto a Gulfstream V jet,  Herbert, NY Times, 2/11/05  MORE

Dear President Bush,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would propose and support a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. As you said "in the eyes of God marriage is based between a man a woman." I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.  Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female,  J. Kent Ashcroft and others MORE

Bush the Crusader*

Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and a treasury official for the first President Bush, told me recently that ''if Bush wins, there will be a civil war in the Republican Party starting on Nov. 3.'' The nature of that conflict, as Bartlett sees it? Essentially, the same as the one raging across much of the world: a battle between modernists and fundamentalists, pragmatists and true believers, reason and religion. . .''This is why George W. Bush is so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them, because he's just like them. . . .. ''He truly believes he's on a mission from God. Absolute faith like that overwhelms a need for analysis. The whole thing about faith is to believe things for which there is no empirical evidence.'' Bartlett paused, then said, ''But you can't run the world on faith.''  RON SUSKIND, NY Times Mag., 10/17/04 MORE

Boykins's Brimstone Bigotry *

The first reports sounded like an over-the-top satire of the Bush Pentagon: the deputy secretary of defense for intelligence - the ranking general charged with the hunt for Osama bin Laden - was parading in uniform to Christian pulpits, preaching that God had put George Bush in the White House and that Islamic terrorists will only be defeated "if we come at them in the name of Jesus." But now a Pentagon inquiry has concluded that Lt. Gen. William Boykin did indeed preach his grossly offensive gospel at 23 churches, pronouncing Satan the mastermind of the terrorists because "he wants to destroy us as a Christian army.". . Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, far from disturbed, praised General Boykin  . . .The sense of offense among Islamic Americans is already deep. Removal of the preacher-general should be a no-brainer, however much the president's campaign generals might fear offending the Christian right voting bloc. NY Times Editorial, 8/26/04

Bush Justifies Torture using Moral Relativism and Situational Ethics!

A team of administration lawyers concluded in a March 2003 legal memorandum that President Bush was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal antitorture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security.  The memo, prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, also said that any executive branch officials, including those in the military, could be immune from domestic and international prohibitions against torture for a variety of reasons. . .[Another report said] interrogators could justify breaching laws or treaties by invoking the doctrine of necessity. An interrogator using techniques that cause harm might be immune from liability if he "believed at the moment that his act is necessary and designed to avoid greater harm."  NEIL A. LEWIS and ERIC SCHMITT, NY Times, 6/8/04

Religiosity*

Karl Rove . . . is well aware of his president's troubles, and -- even as the Beltway boys and girls obsess over Iraq -- Team Bush is furiously sucking up to the base on domestic issues. Just this week, W. delivered a keep-the-faith barn-burner to nearly 2,000 religious leaders and social service workers . . .In his best preacher's voice, Bush spoke of souls lost and found, the power of the Good Book, and the need to surrender one's life to "a higher being." But his larger goal: Reminding the audience of what a key friend he has been. Stressing his commitment to government funding of religious groups, . . .[and] who is with them on . . . home-grown moral atrocities that inflame the right far more than anything that went down at Abu Ghraib. Michelle Cottle, The New Republic, 6/4/04

Bush, the Apocalyptic*

It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that "the Presidents [sic] Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level"—this to a group whose representative in Israel believed herself to have been attacked by witchcraft unleashed by proximity to a volume of Harry Potter. Most of all, apparently, we're not supposed to know the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios.   Rick Perlstein, The VillageVoice, 5/18/04

The Bush Crusade*

As an article on Monday in The Times noted about the growing ranks of angry Muslims: "The call to jihad is rising in the streets of Europe, and is being answered."
Communing with the Higher Father and the Almighty, President Bush has either stumbled into a Holy War or swaggered into one.
In their new book, "The Bushes," Peter and Rochelle Schweizer, who interviewed many Bushes, including the president's father and his brother Jeb, quote one unnamed relative as saying that W. sees the war on terror "as a religious war": "He doesn't have a P.C. view of this war. His view of this is that they are trying to kill the Christians. And we the Christians will strike back with more force and more ferocity than they will ever know." Maureen Dowd, NY Times, 4/29/04

God Made Me Do It  (Again)

Reports Woodward and 60 Minutes:
Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? "I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, 'Well no,' and then he got defensive about it," says Woodward. "And then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, 'He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.' And then he said, 'There's a higher father that I appeal to.'" Perhaps Bush believes that he has a pipeline to God, that he can ask God for advice about which wars to launch. . .Says Woodward, succinctly, of Bush: "He's not an intellectual." He's not. But Woodward makes clear that Bush is perfectly capable of disguising his godly work from people who disagree, such as Colin Powell,  Robert Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com, 4/19/04

Pat Robertson on the Election

Pat Robertson says that God has spoken to him and told him that George W. Bush will be re-elected because he deserves to be.

Here's Pat Robertson's exact quote: "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I'm hearing from the Lord that it's going to be a blowout." . . .

"Andrew," God said to me. He always calls me "Andrew." I like that.

"Andrew, you have the eyes and ears of a lot of people. I wish you'd tell your viewers that both Pat Robertson and Mel Gibson strike me as wackos.  . . .

My own question to Pat Robertson is this: The election looks as though it could be close, certainly not a blowout. If George W. Bush loses the election to a Democrat, will you become an atheist?  Andy Rooney, 60 Minutes, 2/22/04

Chaney on Religion

Over the holidays, Vice President Dick Cheney's Christmas card symbolized all that troubles me about the way politicians treat faith — not as a source for spiritual improvement, but as a pedestal to strut upon. Mr. Cheney's card is dominated by a quotation by Benjamin Franklin: "And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"

It's hard not to see that as a boast that the U.S. has become the global superpower because God is on our side. And "empire" suggests Iraq: is Mr. Cheney contending that in the dispute over the latest gulf war, God was pulling for the White House and fulminating at Democrats and others in Beelzebub's camp? . . .Or there's the real Ben Franklin — not the one counterfeited by Mr. Cheney — who warned each of the framers of the Constitution to "doubt a little of his own infallibility." That would be a useful text for Mr. Cheney's Christmas card next year.  Kritstof, NY Times, 1/7/04

Politics and Religion

Last year the Bush administration, in return for a military base in Uzbekistan, gave $500 million to a government that, according to the State Department, uses torture "as a routine investigation technique," and whose president has killed opponents with boiling water. The moral clarity police were notably quiet.

Why is aiding a brutal dictator O.K., while trying to understand why others don't trust us — and doing something to create that trust — isn't? Why won't the administration mollify Muslims by firing Lt. Gen. William Boykin, whose anti-Islamic remarks have created vast ill will, from his counterterrorism position? . . .It's sheer folly to keep General Boykin in his present position, but as Howard Fineman writes in a Newsweek Web-exclusive column, the administration doesn't want "to make a martyr of a man who depicts himself as a Christian Soldier, marching off to war." . . .Yet because of a domestic political struggle that seems ever more centered on religion, such attempts at understanding are shouted down.  Krugman, NY Times 10/28/03

The 10 Commandments Judge *: The Ten Commandments is a crowd-pleasing cause. A huge majority of Americans regard these words as a map for a good life, though an equally large majority has trouble reciting them. In this Disney culture, it's entirely possible more people can name the seven dwarfs -- including Doc -- than the Ten Commandments.

Americans seem to want the Commandments displayed even if they don't want them all enforced. When was the last time we arrested people at the local mall for dishonoring the Sabbath? When was adultery last a felony?

The Ten Commandments grace the walls of the U.S. Supreme Court building without controversy. Moses stands along with Confucius and Mohammed in a frieze celebrating the history of the law. But Roy's Rock is about as nonsectarian as a sign over a judicial bench reading "What Would Jesus Do?" Ellen Goodman, Washington Post 8/30/03

Bush & the Religious Right: Many conservative Christians view support for Israel and its right-wing government as an obligation flowing directly from biblical prophecy. Middle East experts say this activism has complicated matters for the Bush administration as it tries to navigate the tricky shoals and riptides of the region. "They make it difficult for the administration to move toward more centrist policies, and they make it difficult to hold to the president's determination for a two-state solution as outlined in his roadmap for peace," said David Mack, vice president of the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank. . .Given the key role conservative Christians play in the Republican electoral coalition, DeLay's comments and travels were widely interpreted as a cautionary message to Bush  Ken Fireman, Newsday 7/30/03

Bush and the Devine Plan:  "We are witnessing a shift in Bush's theology – from talking mostly about a Wesleyan theology of "personal transformation" to describing a Calvinist "divine plan" laid out by a sovereign God for the country and himself. This shift has the potential to affect Bush's approach to terrorism, Iraq and his presidency. "   Deborah Caldwell, Religion News Service 2/12/03

God Made Me Do It:  ‘God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.  If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them.” George W. Bush, June 2003 in discussions with Abbas on Palistine.

"This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while."

This conviction that he is doing God's will has surfaced more openly since 9/11. In his State of the Union addresses and other public forums, he has presented himself as the leader of a global war against evil. As for a war in Iraq, ''we do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them.'' God is at work in world affairs, he says, calling for the United States to lead a liberating crusade in the Middle East, and ''this call of history has come to the right country.'' Jackson Lears, NY Times  3/11/03

The Bush Theory of Science *

WITH THEIR SLICK Web sites, . . .the proponents of "intelligent design" -- a "theory" that challenges the validity of Darwinian evolution -- are far more sophisticated than the creationists of yore. . .they operate simply by casting doubt on evolution, largely using the time-honored argument that intelligent life could not have come about by a random natural process and must have been the work of a single creator. They do no experiments and do not publish in recognized scientific journals. . . . this new generation of anti-evolutionists, arguing that children have a "right to question" scientific truths. . . 67 percent of those who voted for President Bush -- do not, . . . believe in evolution at all. . .To teach intelligent design as science in public schools is a clear violation of the principle of separation of church and state. It also violates principles of common sense.  Washington Post Editorial, 1/24/05  MORE

Censorship of Science *

FOR YEARS the World Health Organization has enlisted US government scientists to attend WHO meetings or serve on its panels without first getting the approval of the federal government. That open relationship between the UN organization and scientists ended in April, however, when the Bush administration decreed that WHO must first clear appointees with the Department of Health and Human Services. . . The new policy is a textbook example of what the Union of Concerned Scientists complained about in a report issued in February on the politicization of science by the Bush administration. At that time, 60 of the nation's top scientists said the administration had systematically suppressed or misrepresented science. They called on Congress to hold investigative hearings.  Boston Globe Editorial 7/2/04

Bush's Orwellian Science*

In the Orwellian world of 21st century America, two plus two no longer equals four where public policy is concerned, and science is no exception. When a right-wing theory is contradicted by an inconvenient scientific fact, the science is not refuted; it is simply discarded or ignored. . . Over-the-counter morning-after contraceptive sales are banned. . .health risks of mercury were discounted . . .A National Cancer Institute fact sheet was doctored to suggest that abortion increases breast-cancer risk. . .the Bush administration distanced itself from a climate report the Environmental Protection Agency wrote. . .the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control quietly removed information on the benefits of condoms and safe sex education.  Gov. Howard Dean, MD, Daily Camera.com, 7/5/04

Bush-League Science*

The administration misrepresented the findings of the National Academy of Sciences and other experts on climate change. It meddled with the discussion of climate change in an Environmental Protection Agency report until the EPA eliminated that section. It suppressed another EPA study that showed that the administration's proposed Clear Skies Act would do less than current law to reduce air pollution . . . It even dropped independent scientists from advisory committees on lead poisoning and drug abuse in favor of ones with ties to industry. . . The Department of Health and Human Services deleted information from its Web sites that runs contrary to the president's preference for "abstinence only" sex education programs. . . .  The Editors, Scientific American

Bush Attacks Science*

Today, more than 60 leading scientists—including Nobel laureates, leading medical experts, former federal agency directors and university chairs and presidents—issued a statement calling for regulatory and legislative action to restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking. According to the scientists, the Bush administration has, among other abuses, suppressed and distorted scientific analysis from federal agencies, and taken actions that have undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels. “Across a broad range of issues, the administration has undermined the quality of the scientific advisory system and the morale of the government’s outstanding scientific personnel,” said Dr. Kurt Gottfried, emeritus professor of physics at Cornell  Union of Concerned Scientists, 2/18/04