Post by HighOnHotSauce on Jan 21, 2005 13:19:20 GMT -5
www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050117/misc/17evangelicals.b.htm
Payback politics?
By Kenneth T. Walsh
President Bush's advisers bridle at the suggestion that the White House owes a big political debt to evangelicals, even though they were a key part of his winning coalition in November. "The election was bigger than any one segment," argues a senior White House official. But, while the president doesn't want to seem beholden to any special interest, this doesn't mean he is out of step with conservative Christians. Quite the contrary. "What people are overlooking is that his values are the same as the evangelicals'," another Bush adviser explains. "He considers himself one of them. He doesn't need anyone to push him in their direction. He's already there."
An evangelical leader steps into the political ring
Bush leaves no doubt that his Christian faith is a central part of his life. He publicly thanks Americans who pray for him, and he prays several times a day. His staff holds frequent Bible study sessions in the White House. He is an avid reader of the daily devotionals of Christian philosopher Oswald Chambers.
Prayers in the sky. And Bush is a zealous churchgoer who gets upset when he misses services. On Palm Sunday 2002, he found himself traveling aboard Air Force One, unable to get to church. His staff, led by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (now Bush's nominee for secretary of state) and senior counselor Karen Hughes, held an informal religious service on the plane. The president, the first lady, and three dozen officials gathered in an airborne conference room where Rice, a minister's daughter, led them in hymns and Hughes gave a sermon. "There were a lot of religious people on the plane," Bush recalled in an interview. "It was a packed house. . . . And to be able to worship with people with whom you work in a unique spot is a special moment." He added: "You know, I did feel the presence of God amongst my friends on Air Force One."
This kind of overt religiosity unsettles his adversaries, who see him as a puppet of the religious right. Critics see the influence of evangelicals in everything from his invasion of Iraq to his emphasis on "faith-based" institutions to spearhead charitable work at home.
Yet in many ways, Bush is not out of the mainstream. "Like most of the billion-plus Christians, Bush believes God is in control of events--an idea taught by both the Old and New Testaments," writes political scientist Paul Kengor in God and George W. Bush: A Spiritual Life. The president, Kengor adds, "surely assumes God has placed him in this spot for some reason. This is not unusual theology."
Bush hasn't lost his political sensitivity, however, and doesn't want Americans to think he is overly zealous. He decided, for example, not to use evangelical leaders to campaign prominently with him in 2004 because it might alienate moderate suburbanites. Instead, he brought in sports figures and other celebrities whose devout Christianity is well known in evangelical circles but is less recognized by the media or the secular public, such as former pro football star and ex-Congressman Steve Largent and Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton. And Bush regularly signals the evangelical community that he is one of them through the language he uses publicly, such as references to his support for a "culture of life" and his many quotes from Scripture.
Payback politics?
By Kenneth T. Walsh
President Bush's advisers bridle at the suggestion that the White House owes a big political debt to evangelicals, even though they were a key part of his winning coalition in November. "The election was bigger than any one segment," argues a senior White House official. But, while the president doesn't want to seem beholden to any special interest, this doesn't mean he is out of step with conservative Christians. Quite the contrary. "What people are overlooking is that his values are the same as the evangelicals'," another Bush adviser explains. "He considers himself one of them. He doesn't need anyone to push him in their direction. He's already there."
An evangelical leader steps into the political ring
Bush leaves no doubt that his Christian faith is a central part of his life. He publicly thanks Americans who pray for him, and he prays several times a day. His staff holds frequent Bible study sessions in the White House. He is an avid reader of the daily devotionals of Christian philosopher Oswald Chambers.
Prayers in the sky. And Bush is a zealous churchgoer who gets upset when he misses services. On Palm Sunday 2002, he found himself traveling aboard Air Force One, unable to get to church. His staff, led by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (now Bush's nominee for secretary of state) and senior counselor Karen Hughes, held an informal religious service on the plane. The president, the first lady, and three dozen officials gathered in an airborne conference room where Rice, a minister's daughter, led them in hymns and Hughes gave a sermon. "There were a lot of religious people on the plane," Bush recalled in an interview. "It was a packed house. . . . And to be able to worship with people with whom you work in a unique spot is a special moment." He added: "You know, I did feel the presence of God amongst my friends on Air Force One."
This kind of overt religiosity unsettles his adversaries, who see him as a puppet of the religious right. Critics see the influence of evangelicals in everything from his invasion of Iraq to his emphasis on "faith-based" institutions to spearhead charitable work at home.
Yet in many ways, Bush is not out of the mainstream. "Like most of the billion-plus Christians, Bush believes God is in control of events--an idea taught by both the Old and New Testaments," writes political scientist Paul Kengor in God and George W. Bush: A Spiritual Life. The president, Kengor adds, "surely assumes God has placed him in this spot for some reason. This is not unusual theology."
Bush hasn't lost his political sensitivity, however, and doesn't want Americans to think he is overly zealous. He decided, for example, not to use evangelical leaders to campaign prominently with him in 2004 because it might alienate moderate suburbanites. Instead, he brought in sports figures and other celebrities whose devout Christianity is well known in evangelical circles but is less recognized by the media or the secular public, such as former pro football star and ex-Congressman Steve Largent and Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton. And Bush regularly signals the evangelical community that he is one of them through the language he uses publicly, such as references to his support for a "culture of life" and his many quotes from Scripture.