In article <goTJd.6290$YD5.1967@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
"Ike" <accordiondoc@mindspring.com> wrote:

"johac" <jhachm@ixpres.com> wrote in message
news:jhachm-2721B6.22410325012005@news.giganews.com...

In article <DDCJd.5555$YD5.1032@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
"Ike" <accordiondoc@mindspring.com> wrote:

"johac" <jhachm@ixpres.com> wrote in message
news:jhachm-2F6A4C.00185025012005@news.giganews.com...

Was it supposed to be a speech or a sermon?

---

The Hidden Passages in Bush's Inaugural Address

by Matthew Rothchild


Bushs Inaugural Address contained many explicit references to God,

there were even more hidden allusions to the Bible that may have

lost to many in his audience, as they were to me, before I did

research.

The subtle subtext of his speech carries with it a profoundly

disturbing

message about the separation of church and state in this country.

Here are a few of the hidden passages.

When Bush thanked the American people for granting him patience in

good

measure, he was echoing Luke 6:38, Give, and it shall be given

you;

good measure. . . .

When Bush talked of the ideals of justice and conduct that are the

same

yesterday, today, and forever, he was echoing Hebrews 13:8, which

says,

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

When Bush talked about the untamed fire of freedom in a passage

included the phrase hope kindles hope, he was echoing passages

Jeremiah. For instance, Jeremiah 17:27 says: I will kindle an
unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem. And Jeremiah 50:32

I

will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are

her.

There are many other passages in the Bible that have a raging fire

them. For instance, Isaiah 33:14: The sinners in Zion are

trembling grips the godless: Who of us can dwell with the

fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?

When Bush talked about the day when the captives are set free, he

echoing Ephesians 4:7-9, which says: He led the captives free.

When Bush talked about the day the unjust encounter justice, he

echoing Job 27, which states, May my enemies be like the wicked,

adversaries like the unjust. (This section of Job says that the

and the wicked and the ruthless will meet a grisly fate: However

his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never

enough to eat.)

When Bush talked about the need to surround the lost with love, he

echoing the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15.

When Bush said, History also has a visible direction, set by

and

the Author of Liberty, he was being none too subtle. But he was

alluding to Acts 3:15 (You killed the author of life) and Hebrews

(Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our

Toward the end, when Bush said, Freedom is the permanent hope of
mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul, he

echoing Psalm 107: For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth

hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness. . . .

In these passages, Bush may have been intent on reassuring his
evangelical base that he is one of them.

But in the process, he was also doing something dangerous to our
democracy.

Our First Amendment says that there shall be no establishment of
religion. In his speech, Bush was clearly establishing religion.

was

denying a place in the United States for those without faith. And

while

he waved at those of other faiths, his repeated allusions were

to

the Christian Bible.

If you follow his metaphors and allusions to their logical ends,

realize that Bush was cloaking our secular values of freedom and

liberty

and justice in distinctly Christian garb.

The Author of Liberty is The Author of Life, and that author is

The ideals of justice and conduct equate with Jesus, since both

the

same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Both freedom and Jesus satisfy the hunger and the longing of the

For Bush, they are one and the same.

In his America, there is no distinction between our public,

values and his private, religious faith.

For those who dont share his faith and for those who do but who

appreciate the need to separate church from stateAmerica is

an

increasingly inhospitable place.

You are absolutely correct about Bush's psychology. But how do you

figure

America is becoming an inhospitable place. How is it any more

unhospitable

now than 10-20 years ago? What about the 60's. the 70's when so

leaders were assassinated, just to give one sort of example?

This wasn't my article, I posted something that I fond on the Common
Dreams site. True that the 60s and 70s also had their riots, civil
rights and anti war demonstrations that sometimes turned ugly, but I
wouldn't say that for me, at least, they were more inhospitable. As

as religion, there were fundies around, but they had far less

power than they had today, In matters of what they call 'values' the
government was far less restrictive.
--

Maybe where you were living and how.

Locally, perhaps, but in church-state matters, which was the point of
the article, I didn't see as much interference from the federal
government.