God and American diplomacy
Feb 6th 2003
From The Economist print edition
ONLY one thing unsettles George Bush's critics more than the possibility that his foreign policy is secretly driven by greed. That is the possibility that it is secretly driven by God. War for oil would merely be bad. War for God would be catastrophic: the beginning of a "clash of civilisations" that would pit Christians and Jews against Muslims.
Is there anything to this? The war-for-God crowd can certainly point to bits of evidence. The current White House is the most religious since Jimmy Carter's days. In his memoirs of his time as a presidential speechwriter, David Frum says that the first words he heard in the Bush White House were "Missed you at Bible Study". Mr Bush, a born-again Christian who turned to God after many years of hard drinking, starts each day kneeling in prayer. Michael Gerson, his main speechwriter, is a master at clothing public policy in religious language.
The second piece of evidence is that America, despite a decline in churchgoing, is a much more religious place than Europe, supporting more than 200 Christian television channels and 1,500 Christian radio stations. Religion is particularly important to Mr Bush's party. Republican voters attend church more frequently than Democrats do. Evangelical southerners constitute the praetorian guard of the Republican Party.
The third piece of evidence is the scariest: some right-wing Christians seem to be spoiling for a clash of civilisations. Jerry Falwell has called the Prophet Muhammad a "terrorist". He has since apologised, but Pat Robertson, who called him a "wild-eyed fanatic", a "robber" and a "brigand", has not. Franklin Graham, son of Billy, has branded Islam "evil". Many American evangelicals believe that the complete restoration of the nation of Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming. Thwarting Ariel Sharon is thus tantamount to thwarting God's master-plan.
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economist.com |
