Column: Press Ignores Role of Fundamentalism in Bush’s Policies
The media has grossly underreported the extent to which Bush's Christian fundamentalism informs his policies on Israel, Iraq, stem cells and abortion, argues a former Newsday and Knight Ridder White House correspondent.
The media has grossly underreported the extent to which Bush’s Christian fundamentalism informs his policies on Israel, Iraq, stem cells and abortion, argues a former Newsday and Knight Ridder White House correspondent.
Your support matters…Nieman Watchdog:
There is an alien influence, mostly unpublicized, running like an undercurrent beneath the Bush administration’s Middle East policies. It may help explain George W. Bush’s single-mindedness, his oblivious inability to face reality as his war in Iraq, his war against terror and his policies towards Arabs and Israeli have collapsed.
I say “alien,” because I believe this to be the first time in modern American history that a president’s religion, in this case his Christian fundamentalism, has become a decisive factor in his foreign and domestic policies. It?s a factor that has been under-reported, to say the least, and that begs for press attention.
Bush, who says he reads the Bible daily, acknowledges his fundamentalist beliefs. Biblical and Middle East scholar Karen Armstrong writes in The Guardian, “Whatever Bush’s personal beliefs, the ideology of the Christian right is both familiar and congenial to him. This strange amalgam of ideas can perhaps throw light on the behavior of a president who, it is said, believes God chose him to lead the world toward Rapture, who has little interest in social reform, and whose selective concern for life issues has now inspired him to veto important scientific research.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Opinion
But the implications of increasing secularization aren't clear.
World
Ukraine’s largest Orthodox church is accused of collaborating with Russia.
Hundreds of people and many clergy are killed at churches, mosques, synagogues and temples across the globe.
"If you look at how [Union Theological Seminary] treats its professors of color, its students of color, its neighbors of color, it doesn’t add up.”
The liberal denominations and their seminaries, by betraying the poor, especially people of color, in a desperate bid to stay financially solvent, are making themselves obsolete.
Who knew political comedy could make such an impact?
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.