-Reuters
US President George W. Bush bows his head in prayer, in the East Room of the White House, during an event marking the National Day of Prayer, last Thursday.
By many accounts, George W. Bush is regarded as the most openly religious President the United States has had in generations. His embrace of the Christian faith has been attracting the attention of both the print and electronic media. Under the headline "God and Bush", the present occupant of the White House became the cover story for the March 10, 2003 edition of Newsweek Magazine.
Last year, author Stephen Mansfield, produced the book The Faith of George W. Bush. Then last month, the cable channel Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) did a feature on evangelical Christians entitled 'The Jesus Factor' which made special reference to the personal religious journey of this 43rd President of the United States.
SCHOLARS of the spirituality of the George W. Bush cite as a watershed the 1980s when the son of then Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush almost lost his wife and daughters because of his drinking habits. His decision to become a born-again Christian became the turning point in his life.
George W. Bush in his auto-biography, A Charge to Keep, wrote, " My faith frees me. Frees me to put the problem of the moment in proper perspective. Frees me to make decisions that others might not like. Frees me to try to do the right thing, even though it may not poll well. Frees me to enjoy life and not worry about what comes next."
MORAL RENOVATION
Biographer, Stephen Mansfield, writing in last November/ December edition of New Man Magazine said Bush, "among all else that his faith did for him, it liberated him to be who he really was Faith brought moral renovation to Bush's life. It did not happen all at once, but over time he stopped drinking, using tobacco and raging angrily at his enemies. Moreover, his former excesses saddened him, and he made amends when he could."
In 1985, the then 39 year-old George W. Bush joined Community Bible Study where men, most of them with wealth, met once weekly. The group would typically study a book of the Bible for 30 weeks. Mark Leaverton, founder of the particular Bible study group told PBS that years later when Bush became Governor of Texas he acknowledged that the group "has changed my life".
Writing in Newsweek, Howard Fineman dismissed the idea that Christianity is directly responsible for what some call Bush's sure-mindedness and what some call his arrogance. "Faith didn't make Bush a decisive person. He's always been one. His birthright as a Bush gives him a sense of obligation to serve, and a sense of entitlement to lead. Still, faith helps Bush pick a course and not look back," Fineman said.
While most US Presidents use religious language from time to time in their speeches, the pundits say George W. Bush invokes the name of God and makes Scriptural and hymnodic allusions frequently.
Biographer, Mansfield, says of Bush in the New Man article, "He does not believe in prayer or missiles, the spiritual or the natural. He believes they are both intertwined, that the visible and the invisible parallel, which is simply the 'mere Christianity' of the ages".
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
In his 2003 State of the Union address the President had a line that said, "- there's power, wonder-working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people". Richard Cizik, of the National Association of Evangelicals, told PBS, "Ultimately, theologically, 'the wonder-working power' is the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives. Evangelicals know that. But he was sending a signal of identification, I think, whether intentional or not, I don't know. We perceived it as intentional. How could it appear otherwise. How could it appear in a presidential State of the Union message except by some intent to identify with a community that is the faithful? Was it wrong? I don't think so, in any way."
In an interview with The Oregonian last year, Cizik remarked: Presidents are not theologians, "But they have every right to use theological language. Why? Because in our form of government, they're not just the head of their party, but the head of the state. In that role, it's a President's job to be national healer and consular. To describe Saddam Hussein as evil what some theologians have objected to in my estimation, is entirely appropriate. It sets off Bush's opponents, who believe that evil is a result of the failure of social institutions or the result of human ignorance but rarely that of the depravity of the human heart. Yet that is exactly what is the case with Saddam Hussein."
POPULAR WITH SOUTHERN BAPTISTS
Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention perhaps the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, told PBS. "This President is very popular with Southern Baptists; much more popular then he was in 2000. I don't think there's any question that this President's heartbeat is close to the heartbeat of Southern Baptists when it comes to very serious and important public
policy issues."
Land made the observation that Bush in 2000 carried every state where there was a significant Southern Baptist presence. He estimates too that 40 per cent of Bush's votes in 2000 came from evangelicals.
Faced with having to reward people for their help in getting him elected, Bush opted to do three things that has seemingly met with favour with the evangelical community. Firstly, beginning on January 21, 2001, he established a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving. Secondly, he cut federal funding for abortion services. Thirdly, he established in the White House , the Office of Faith-based Initiatives.
INFLUENCED BY EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY
Interestingly, George Bush, the Elder, an Episcopalian, was raised, the PBS feature showed, in a Connecticut culture where the personal dimensions of one's faith was kept strictly private. George Bush, the Younger, however, was raised in the Midland Texas context of public piety - which was overwhelmingly influenced by evangelical Christianity.
Though evangelical in his worldview, George W. Bush is a member of the United Methodist Church, one of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the United States. John Green, author of Religion and Culture Wars, made the observation to PBS that Bush holds positions that are significantly different from the United Methodist Church.
"For instance, he is pro-life on abortion, whereas United Methodists tend to be pro-choice. He disagrees with many Methodists on social welfare issues, and Methodists have a long tradition of supporting the welfare state. President Bush is very critical of the welfare state. On foreign policy, President Bush as a somewhat aggressive foreign policy than many Methodists would agree with.
Bush family friend, Doug Wead, told PBS that the faith of the President has brought more of a sensitivity, a feminine side to his personality, that was needed. His faith, he continued, is "the restraining influence in his life. It's not something to be afraid of. George W. Bush is someone to be afraid of without his faith."
