Author: Carter M. Yang
Publication: ABCNEWS.com
Date: May 21, 2001
The White House says President Bush's
Christian faith is a private matter, but the prominent role religion plays
in his public life is generating controversy.
President Bush reads the Bible everyday,
prays in the Oval Office and frequently inserts religious references into
his speeches.
The prominent role Bush's Christian
faith plays in his public life is renewing debate about the proper role
of religion in government in general and the presidency in particular.
'A Very Thin Line,' Say Critics
The White House does not dispute
the USA Today's recent account of Bush inviting Macedonian President Boris
Trajkovski to join him in prayer in the Oval Office as the two leaders
met earlier this month.
Critics say such conduct is inappropriate
to the secular office that Bush holds.
"When he [prays] as a private person
practicing his own faith, God bless, but when it becomes part of the official
function of the president, then that's something that is inappropriate,"
says Abraham Foxman, president of the Anti-Defamation League, who chastised
then-Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman for making
repeated references to Judaism during last year's presidential campaign.
"There's a very thin line between
having a private prayer session and communicating to [foreign] leaders
that you the president are the president of a Christian nation," adds Barry
Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and
State. "He's treading dangerously close to breaching the idea that this
is a secular country."
But Bush's supporters say such criticism
is unwarranted and amounts to discrimination against politicians with strong
religious beliefs.
"If these men are both men of faith
- and coincidentally the same faith - why shouldn't they be able to share
that commonality?" asks Patrick Scully, a spokesman for the Catholic League
for Religious and Civil Liberties. "If they were both Baltimore Orioles
fans, they would be able to talk about that without anybody freaking out."
Deputy White House press secretary
Scott McClellan refused to comment directly on the incident, saying Bush
believes that religion is something "personal and private."
'Tell Them God Loves Them'
Bush does, however, often include
religious references in his public remarks that go fat beyond the usual
"May God bless America" - a phrase that has concluded countless presidential
speeches.
"The great strength of America is
the fact that America is full of . God-fearing and decent souls," Bush
said in his remarks to students and faculty at North Dakota State University
in March.
"If you see somebody in need, put
your arm around them [and] tell them God loves them," Bush urged members
of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce a week later in a speech on his administration's
budget priorities.
Lynn says this kind of language
coming from a sitting president is unsettling to many Americans, and with
good reason.
"People in the United States get
uncomfortable when a president wears his faith on his sleeve every day,"
he argues. "And I do think that's the direction toward which Bush is moving
. [He] has been the most overt user of these religious references of any
modern president."
"The president believes we ought
to welcome people of all faiths in politics," responds McClellan. "His
personal faith is something he tries to live, but he doesn't wear it on
his sleeve."
'My Faith Gives Me Focus'
Bush is, by his own account, a deeply
religious man.
When Bush was asked in a December
1999 presidential debate to name the philosopher who had most influenced
his life, Bush answered, "Christ - because he changed my heart.
"When you accept Christ as your
savior, it changes your heart, it changes your life," he explained.
While the 24-member crew of a U.S.
Navy surveillance plane was being detained in China last month following
a midair collision, Bush, according to senior advisers, inquired, "Have
they got Bibles there?"
"My faith gives me focus and perspective
. But I also recognize that faith can be misinterpreted in the political
process," Bush wrote in his 1999 autobiography, A Charge to Keep. "I believe
it is important to live my faith, not flaunt it."
But the Catholic League insists
there is no reason why Bush should shy away from public displays of his
Christian faith.
"Why people like Barry Lynn see
the need to cleanse the public sector of any sort of religious expression
or speech is beyond me," says Scully. "Everybody knows [Bush] is a man
of great faith, strongly religious and they elected him."
Scully contends it is not the constitutional
separation of church and state that is at issue, but rather the president's
freedom of expression.
"His freedom of expression does
not become second-class because it's of a religious nature," Scully says.
"He has a right to be the person that he is."
Foxman argues, however, that Bush
has a responsibility to recognize the fact that he is the elected leader
of a secular state.
"One has to be cognizant of the
fact that not everybody is religious," he cautions. "He doesn't have to
divest himself of faith in God, but he has to be sensitive."
During his first week in office,
Bush declared Jan. 21 a "National Day of Prayer." The following week, he
created the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives
- part of his plan to funnel government funds to religious charities.
That effort led to this memorable
exchange with veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas:
"Mr. President, why do you refuse
to respect the wall between the church and state?" she asked Bush at a
February news conference.
"I strongly respect the separation
of church and state," the president insisted.
"Well, you wouldn't have a religious
office in the White House if you did," said Thomas.
Ashcroft Under Fire
Attorney General John Ashcroft,
a Pentecostal, has also come under criticism for holding daily Bible study
sessions with employees at the Justice Department.
Father Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest
and a law ethics professor at Georgetown University, says the practice
is improper and a violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of federal
guidelines.
"It's just inappropriate," Drinan
said Sunday on CNN's Late Edition. "I'm not saying it's unconstitutional,
but
I don't think that this [should
be] done by the highest law authority in the country."
Christian Coalition founder Pat
Robertson defends Ashcroft.
"I'm just shocked that the liberals
are making so much fuss about this because its John Ashcroft's absolute
constitutional right to pray privately with a group of people," he told
CNN.
In a study released earlier this
year by the nonpartisan research group Public Agenda, 49 percent of those
surveyed said if more politicians were religious, they would be more likely
to be honest and have integrity. But 48 percent said they felt the nation
does not need more politicians who are religious.
"A majority of Americans . have
an almost instinctive wariness of injecting religion directly into politics,"
says Deborah Wadsworth, the president of Public Agenda. "On the other hand,
they believe religion has enormous power to elevate people's behavior."
