- 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." That
is the view of a disillusioned Republican, Bruce Bartlett, formerly of
the Reagan and first Bush administrations, now one of a growing number
who feel shut out of the current Republican leadership because they are
not "born again".
-
- There are of course plenty of senior Bush officials (and
Republicans) who are not evangelical Christians. There are even some evangelical
Christians who are Democrats. But it is hard to observe the activities
and passion of the Republican base these days without wondering whether
a tipping point has not been reached in the fusion of faith and politics
in the United States.
-
- One of the strongest indicators of support for a Republican
is regular attendance at church. Official Republican fliers were recently
sent out in Arkansas and West Virginia claiming that John Kerry, if elected,
would ban the Bible. Polling bears out the increasing shift toward a fusion
of religious belief and Republicanism.
-
- According to an Annenberg study, 71% of born-again white
Protestants (who outnumber all blacks and Hispanics combined) have a favourable
view of George W Bush. That is up from 63% in 2000. Republicans outnumber
Democrats in that group by more than two to one. And 42% of all Americans
describe themselves as "born again". Bush's faith - as pronounced
as it is banal in expression - clearly sustains him and connects directly
to them.
-
- He said as much in the final debate, where he gave his
most polished answer: "Prayer and religion sustain me. I receive calmness
in the storms of the presidency. I love the fact that people pray for me
and my family all around the country. Somebody asked me one time, how do
you know? I said I just feel it. Religion is an important part. I never
want to impose my religion on anybody else. But when I make decisions I
stand on principle. And the principles are derived from who I am... I believe
that God wants everybody to be free. That's what I believe. And that's
one part of my foreign policy. In Afghanistan I believe that the freedom
there is a gift from the Almighty. And I can't tell you how encouraged
I am to see freedom on the march. And so my principles that I make decisions
on are a part of me. And religion is a part of me."
-
- Bush is always careful to distinguish between his faith
and the freedom of others who do not share it. It is unfair to paint him
as intolerant. He has been particularly careful not to stigmatise Islam
in the past few years. And yet he also clearly favours policies of faith
rather than reason.
-
- He opposes federal funding of embryonic stem cells for
religious reasons; he opposes allowing gay couples legal protection because
for him civil marriage is "sacred" and for him there is no real
distinction between civil and religious marriage. He views the Supreme
Court decision that mandated legal abortion in America, Roe vs Wade, as
the equivalent of the Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery. And every
speech he makes is full of biblical and religious imagery. His chief speech
writer is born again and it is hard to see how any secular person could
write in his voice.
-
- His most fervent supporters occasionally sound like disciples
rather than supporters. Go to his partisan events and he is treated almost
as a mystic healer or Moses-style saviour. The writer Ron Suskind recently
reported on an exchange at one of those events: "'I've voted Republican
from the very first time I could vote,' said Gary Walby, a retired jeweller
from Destin, Florida. 'And I also want to say this is the very first time
that I have felt that God was in the White House.' Bush simply said 'thank
you' as a wave of raucous applause rose from the assembled."
-
- And for many of the true faithful, Bush is an almost
messianic figure. At this year's convention of the Texas Republican party,
one pastor prayed: "Give us Christians in America who are more wholehearted,
more committed and more militant for you and your kingdom than any fanatical
Islamic terrorists are for death and destruction. I want to be one of those
Christians." That is the molten core of the Republican party.
-
- As fundamentalism gains strength, as Bush removes barriers
that prevent government from funding religious groups and as the churches
become more and more engaged in direct politicking, its power to change
the surface of American society should not be underestimated. It can also
reach across racial boundaries. A new poll shows Bush gaining more support
from blacks - mainly elderly ones - partly because of his opposition to
gay rights.
-
- What can Kerry do? Well, he can re-emphasise his own
Catholicism and in the past few weeks he has been belatedly doing so. Kerry
is uncomfortable, in the way Europeans are, about injecting faith into
politics. That is one reason why he has not broken through yet. But Catholics
are beginning to catch on. And his emphasis on social justice as an extension
of his faith has Kennedy-style resonance for the faithful.
-
- After the third debate there was a major shift of white
Catholic support to Kerry. On October 3, Bush was leading among white Catholics
by 49% to 33%. By last week Kerry had reversed that to a lead of 50% to
43%. (In 2000, Bush beat Gore in the same constituency by seven points.)
The attempts by an unpopular Catholic hierarchy to discipline or even excommunicate
Kerry because of his support for abortion may have backfired and helped
Kerry.
-
- Catholics are not as powerful or as committed as white
born-again evangelicals. But their political advantage is that they are
concentrated in many of the critical swing states: Ohio and Pennsylvania,
particularly. One of the main reasons why this race is now essentially
tied is that Kerry has won back these Catholics. Married white Catholic
women are also a critical constituency. Kerry has begun to shore them up.
-
- Who will win this religious war? It's still too close
to call. But inasmuch as people's deepest and most mysterious beliefs are
being dragged more and more into the public square, America loses. It is
one thing to have religious rhetoric and language in public. That is the
American way. It is another to base political appeals on religious grounds
- whether crudely or subtly.
-
- It is one of the saddest ironies of our time that as
America tries to calm the fires of theocracy abroad, it should be stoking
milder versions of the same at home.
-
- Copyright 2004 Times Newspapers Ltd. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-1325334,00.html
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