A Toxic Mix: God, Country, and Perpetual Fear

Ariana Huffington posted this article at Alternet on Sept. 29th, partly in response to the republican mailing that said democrats were aiming to ban the bible. The best nuggets:

"Clearly, Bush and the GOP have taken their bible-thumping ways to a whole new level: now they’re using the Good Book to try and bash in the skulls of their opponents. This "God is on our side" attack is all the more outrageous because it’s not coming from some shadowy 527 committee that Bush can publicly – albeit disingenuously – distance himself from but, rather, from deep in the heart of the Bush-run Republican National Committee. The president’s team has undoubtedly "approved this message."

As Rev. Jim Wallis, the editor of Sojourners magazine, told me: "It’s a bitter irony: these people accuse Democrats of wanting to ban the Bible then proceed to utterly ignore the vast majority of its contents when it comes to questions of social justice, war and peace, and protecting the environment."

Perhaps the holy rollers in the Bush camp should crack open a Bible and see what it has to say about caring for the poor (Matthew 25:40), caring for the Earth (Genesis 2:15), and caring for human rights (Genesis 1:27). I’ve got a hunch Jesus wouldn’t be too thrilled with Bush’s first term.

And while they’re acquainting themselves with the Book they purport to defend, the Bushies might also want to have a look at John 8:32 to see what it has to say about the moral imperative of telling the truth. Instead, they are doing everything in their power to convince nervous voters that a vote for John Kerry is a vote for another 9/11. It’s the latest vile twist in the Bush-Cheney "all fear, all the time" campaign strategy, and the last desperate gasp of an administration utterly clueless about how to actually win the war on terror. …

As Thomas Jefferson made clear, "dissent is the highest form of patriotism." But Bush can’t seem to grasp that this country is too strong to be endangered by the truth – and that, indeed, hiding the truth, the hallmark of his administration, is what is making us weaker and less secure.

I know the president hates to read but, with the debates looming, maybe he should dust off his library card and brush up on his American history. And on the Bible.