In the closing scramble of the Democratic candidates debate, John "Coin-toss" Kerry manages to come down on both sides what should have been an easy question from Elisabeth Bumiller of the NY Times:
BUMILLER: Really fast, on a Sunday morning, President Bush has said that freedom and fear have always been at war, and God is not neutral between them. He's made quite clear in his speeches that he feels God is on America's side.
Really quick, is God on America's side?
KERRY: Well, God will -- look, I think -- I believe in God, but I don't believe, the way President Bush does, in invoking it all the time in that way. I think it is -- we pray that God is on our side, and we pray hard. And God has been on our side through most of our existence.
Man, is this guy a long-time, big-time professional politician, or what? Memo to Kerry staff: The questions will get progressively more difficult; if your candidate is intent on having an authentic moment, let him shout something like "Yankees Suck!", and hope that Hillary! will help repair the damage. However, if he really has doubts about God's positioning vis a vis the USA, he had best keep them to himself.
There is an easy answer to this question. Johnny On the Spot Edwards had his hand up, and was called on immediately; George Bush has heard this before, from Edwards, and was paying attention; Ronald Reagan knew it, and folks familiar with wars other than Vietnam, such as the Civil War or WWII, also knew it. Let's go to Senator Edwards:
BUMILLER: Senator?
EDWARDS: Well, there's a wonderful story about Abraham Lincoln during the middle of the Civil War bringing in a group of leaders, and at the end of the meeting one of the leaders said, "Mr. President, can we pray, can we please join in prayer that God is on our side?" And Abraham Lincoln's response was, "I won't join you in that prayer, but I'll join you in a prayer that we're on God's side."
Not a trick question. But not easy, if you haven't thought about it. We serve God's plan, not vice versa.
MORE: Yes, that seems to tarnish the "Animatronic Lincoln" theory. James Lileks has thoughts and quotes; John Kerry addressed his spirituality at the start of the debate; and we look for Bush "constantly invoking" God in his State of the Union Addresses.
The debate opened as follows:
RATHER: ... So let's get to it. It's a big day in the news. Haiti is in the news. We have questions about that.
But first, I want each on of you in turn, in one sentence, in terms of your own spirituality, if you prefer religiosity to complete the sentence, "This I believe..."
Senator Kerry?
KERRY: I believe in God. And I believe in the power of redemption, and the capacity of individual human beings to be able to make a difference, because, as President Kennedy said, "Here on Earth, God's work must truly be our own."
RATHER: Senator Edwards?
EDWARDS: I believe we live in a country where there are two different Americas, one for people who get everything they need every single day, and one for everybody else. And I believe that the president of the United States, with the Lord's help, has the power to change that.
The debate ended with Ms. Bumiller question as noted above.
Ms. Bumiller also told us that President Bush has "made quite clear in his speeches that he feels God is on America's side". In his reply, Sen. Kerry said he does not like the way President Bush is "invoking it all the time in that way". One might expect to find these references in the State of the Union speeches, then - "all the time" should include prime-time, yes? We will throw in the President's address on Sept 20, 2001, since that is the one to which Ms. Bumiller referred:
President Bush to Congress, Sept 20, 2001:
The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them. (Applause.)
Fellow citizens, we'll meet violence with patient justice -- assured of the rightness of our cause, and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch over the United States of America.
Although we are supposed to be humble in gauging God's will, I think the President is on safe ground in suggesting that He is not neutral between freedom and fear. If Senator Kerry holds these truths to be open to further discussion, good luck to him.
SOTU, Jan 2002
Those of us who have lived through these challenging times have been changed by them. We've come to know truths that we will never question: evil is real, and it must be opposed. (Applause.) Beyond all differences of race or creed, we are one country, mourning together and facing danger together. Deep in the American character, there is honor, and it is stronger than cynicism. And many have discovered again that even in tragedy -- especially in tragedy -- God is near. (Applause.)
In a single instant, we realized that this will be a decisive decade in the history of liberty, that we've been called to a unique role in human events. Rarely has the world faced a choice more clear or consequential.
Our enemies send other people's children on missions of suicide and murder. They embrace tyranny and death as a cause and a creed. We stand for a different choice, made long ago, on the day of our founding. We affirm it again today. We choose freedom and the dignity of every life. (Applause.)
Steadfast in our purpose, we now press on. We have known freedom's price. We have shown freedom's power. And in this great conflict, my fellow Americans, we will see freedom's victory.
Thank you all. May God bless. (Applause.)
George Bush is pretty clearly on freedom's side, but there is a lot less invoking of God than Sen. Kerry led me to expect. Now, were we called by God, or circumstance? Or is the President letting each listener decide?
SOTU, Jan 2003
...Our Nation is blessed with recovery programs that do amazing work. One of them is found at the Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A man in the program said, "God does miracles in people .s lives, and you never think it could be you." Tonight, let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you.
Hmm, not quite what we are looking for. Continuing:
Our Founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity - the rights of every person and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men....
As our Nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our world safer, we must also remember our calling, as a blessed country, to make this world better.
Are we not blessed?
The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.
We Americans have faith in ourselves - but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history.
May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Thank you.
SOTU, Jan 2004:
My fellow citizens, we now move forward, with confidence and faith. Our nation is strong and steadfast. The cause we serve is right, because it is the cause of all mankind. The momentum of freedom in our world is unmistakable -- and it is not carried forward by our power alone. We can trust in that greater power who guides the unfolding of the years. And in all that is to come, we can know that His purposes are just and true.
May God continue to bless America. (Applause.)
I need help now; I am not finding these constant invocations described by Sen. Kerry.
We have time for one question. Yes, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" does suggest that God was with us, where "us" was the damyankees". Does that contradict Lincoln?
No. There are no atheists in fox holes, and the song was meant to inspire the troops being asked to fight, and quite possibly die, for the Northern cause. There is a time and place for subtle theological distinctions, but this was not it.
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