The Crusade of George Bush

As I watch more and more of the intransigence of George Bush, I have been left with only one of two choices. Either the man is insane and stupid or he sees something that I don’t see. I use to believe the former and now I am beginning to believe the latter. I think that Mr. Bush believes that his divinely inspired destiny is found in his coming to the rescue of the Holy Land, even if that means unleashing apocalyptic chaos on the world.

In a meeting with the Palestinian leadership in June of 2003, Mr. Bush instructed the ministers that he believed that God had instructed him to do the following.


Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"[1]

It is apparent that Mr. Bush believes that God has chosen him to smite the wicked infidels of the world and restore order. You would think that Mr. Bush invoking God and destiny would be frightening to most Americans, but strangely it is not. The reason being is that the majority of Americans have been raised with the belief that America is uniquely qualified to represent God in the world. That not only is America qualified but has been chosen by God to do so and that we are a nation that has been given special status and grace to do so.

By the nineteenth century, that new order was brazenly described as "our manifest destiny." President McKinley’s alleged explanation for conquering the Philip-pines in 1898 is an unequivocal example of this divinely-inspired imperialism. "I went down on my knees and prayed," McKinley dramatically explains, "and it came to me." It was our task to "civilize and Christianize them and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them." Senator Beveridge agreed that the Lord blessed this undertak-ing as he "has marked us as a chosen people." In reality, the Spanish-American war and the conquest of the Philippines accelerated the ascendancy of an expanding empire. Such crude goals are difficult to justify, but more easily digested if viewed as a fulfillment of God’s will.[2]

This manifest destiny came ashore with the first white settlers and continues to this very day. There are many in this country who believe that America has some special place endowed by God in the world and the rest of the world are less than and therefore can eat sh*t. This attitude is being trumpeted through the evangelicals across the country and has been for centuries. It is this attitude of special privilege from God that causes the world to call us arrogant and hypocrites. When an argument is couched in God’s will, who can resist it. We have allowed this belief to infiltrate our politics and our foreign policy; we have an undeclared war on the Muslim world. We refuse to accept the advice or authority of any other country, even the country we may be visiting or invading. We do not respect the cultures or customs of other nations that do not mimic our own. This thing with Bush is not only surprising but should have been expected. You look at the last few elections starting with the “Moral Majority” which was neither moral nor a majority, but they were promoted by the MSM as if they were speaking directly from God. There is a deep undercurrent in this country that believes that God particularly founded this nation and that we have a chosen role in the coming apocalypse.

After the trauma of September 11, President Bush breathed new life into this centuries-old imperial theology. The World Trade Center catastrophe revived religious vocabularies of superiority with increased vigor. Bush, who considers Jesus the philosopher who most influenced him, issued a "crusade" against the perpetrators. Advisers worried that talk of a crusade was too inflammatory, but they did not forsake religious metaphors. If September 11 did not constitute a crusade, it did ignite a "monumental struggle of good versus evil," and "good will prevail," the President informed us. Within hours of the attack, Bush instantly surmised that an epic conflict commenced. Here Bush mimics an Old Testament prophet, conjuring up the dichotomy of "us" versus "them" alongside the assumption that the United States is all that is good in the world. Equally revealing is Bush’s emphasis on an Armageddon-like battle, a "monumental struggle" against "evildoers." George W. Bush is the quintessence of the crusader motif.[3]

The tragedy of 9/11 only allowed what was always just barely under the surface to rise. No one cringed when Bush began to couch religious metaphors in his speeches. If anything it added to the righteous indignation, how could anyone have the nerve to attack God’s country? Newsflash – God does not have a country, God has people and they live all over the world and they may not talk or look like you, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable to God. We now have the results of this rhetoric and its hostile intent, we have invaded two countries (both Muslim) and we are talking trash to a third. How can the Muslim world not think this is another crusade?

The only problem with crusades is that eventually the crusaders go home and the natives are still there. So unless the strategy is to kill them all, it isn’t going to work. Let’s end the crusades of George Bush before any more people are slaughtered. It is time for Little Sir George to put on his pajamas and get into bed. Goodnight everyone from Camelot.

[1] http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1007-03.htm
[2] http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2003_10-12/mirra_theol/mirra_theol.html
[3] http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2003_10-12/mirra_theol/mirra_theol.html