Bush's inaugural speech laced
with religious images and connections
___WASHINGTON--Religious themes surfaced frequently in President George W. Bush's inaugural address Jan. 20, drawing both praise and criticism from those who heard it.
___"Compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government," Bush said, echoing a
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PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH at his inauguration in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20.
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campaign pledge to establish partnerships with private and religious organizations to combat social ills.
___"Some needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentor's touch or a pastor's prayer," Bush also said. "Church and charity, synagogue and mosque, lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws."
___Bush pledged to build "a single nation of justice and opportunity." He added, "I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in his image."
___Bush has touted "charitable choice," using tax dollars to fund religious ministries that combat drug use, juvenile violence or other social problems. Despite critics who say such programs violate the separation of church and state, Bush has pushed forward, announcing recently that he would establish a White House office of "faith-based action."
___Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, hailed the address as the "most overtly religious speech in its tone of any inaugural address in living memory."
___"I felt it signals that President George W. Bush is not going to be intimidated by the media elites into pretending that we are a secular nation," Land said. "We are not. We have a secular government, but we are among the most religious nations on earth."
___Land said Bush's reference to the Good Samaritan was particularly apt.
___"The only thing that government contributed to in the story of the Good Samaritan was the failure to provide adequate police protection so that the victim was mugged," Land noted. "So the president is not talking about the government being the Good Samaritan, but rather fostering an environment where citizens take care of their fellow citizens."
___On the other hand, Barry Hankins, a professor with the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University, offered a different perspective on Bush's words.
___The inaugural address was "replete with allusions to American civil religion," Hankins said.
___He believes Bush was calling for America, as a society, to take upon itself the ethos of the Good Samaritan and was signaling that government will offer churches a greater role in solving social ills.
___Hankins also found themes of what he calls "American exceptionalism" in Bush's speech. This connects with a tradition dating back to early Puritan settlers referring to America as the "city set on the hill" and as a type of "New Jerusalem," he explained.
___Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said he welcomed Bush's call for inclusive faith-based action. But churches and other groups cannot shoulder the burden alone, he added.
___"It is simply a recognition of the kind of culture we live in," Edgar said. "Clearly he believes in the separation of church and state, but not the separation of people of faith and the government."
___Bush's declaration that faith institutions would be accorded a place of honor in his administration's plans sounded ominous to Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
___"There were times in this address when it appeared Bush had not only been elected president, but also elected national pastor," Lynn said. "His suggestion that churches would play an honored role in his plans and laws demonstrates his deep misunderstanding of the constitutional separation of church and state."
___While Bush has talked often and openly about his personal faith, he has also made deliberate attempts to reach out beyond Christians and Jews to other faiths, notably Muslims.
___With just one word--"mosque"--Bush opened the door for an increased role for American Muslims, a growing community in both size and influence that solidly backed Bush in his quest for the White House.
___Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Bush's speech signaled a "growing recognition of the Muslim community in the United States" that bodes well for Muslim influence.
___ In his address, Bush also focused on another social issue--poverty--in the 12-minute inaugural speech.
___"In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise," he said. "And whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are not at fault. Abandonment and abuse are not acts of God, they are failures of love.
___"I can pledge our nation to a goal: When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side," he said, in an allusion to Jesus' biblical parable of the Good Samaritan.
___He also pledged to "reclaim America's schools" and to reform Social Security and Medicare.
___Despite his religious themes, Bush's biggest cheers came after he pledged to reduce taxes.
The Baptist Standard
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