Last Thursday, the PBS documentary series, Frontline, broadcast a documentary called " The Jesus Factor," an examination of the faith of George W. Bush, and the influence of Evangelical Christianity on his policies.

In that documentary, we learn that Bush turned to God primarily as a way to overcome his drinking problem and avoid losing his family. It's what one commentator in the program called "12 step Christianity". What follows is a recitation of Bush's journey from troubled soul to a President who believes that God ordained his election. And in between detailing that journey, "The Jesus Factor" looks at the influence of Evangelical Christians in this country.

Bush was shown to be just like any other Evangelical, doing his best to live up to the standards he believes were set out in the bible. Considering what the program said about Evangelicals in general, however, makes Bush's faith seem downright scary to anyone who doesn't share it -- and even to some that do.

It's not a bad thing to be a religious man, and it's not a bad thing to stick to one's principals -- but it's downright scary when the leader of the secular government fundamentally disagrees with that government's founding principals. In spite of what they would have you believe, America was not established as a Christian nation under the law. What the founding fathers wrote in their letters and diaries clearly shows a definite belief in Deism -- but rather than promoting those beliefs in the founding document of our nation, they chose instead to enshrine our right to practice our individual beliefs, and thereby, our right not to be ruled by other's beliefs. The Constitution of the United States does not include any requirement of faith in order to be an American citizen.

In order to understand how this relates to the current Bush administration, let's step back a moment. In 1987, Robert I. Sherman (a reporter for American Atheist News) had the following exchange with George W. Bush's father [emphasis ours]:

Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in god is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Sherman (somewhat taken aback): Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?

Bush: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.

Interestingly, this statement was not mentioned in the section of the program dealing with Bush Sr., and his attempts to appeal to Evangelicals.

As far as we know, the question of the citizenship and patriotism of atheists has not been put to George W. Bush. But given the beliefs of his father, one has to wonder if Bush Jr. also feels this way. Maybe he doesn't. Perhaps some intrepid reporter should ask him.

American governance is guided by its central establishing document: The Constitution of the United States of America. The separation of church and state has its basis in Constitutional law, and has time and again stood up against various legal challenges over the years.

Evangelicals find that separation terribly inconvenient, as they try to impose their beliefs on all citizens of this nation. Their solution? Deny that such a principal exists. The problem is, of course, the separation of church and state is very real, and was intended exist from the start by our founding fathers.

Jefferson, for example, said, ". . . I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State." How this could be more explicitly stated? For anybody to insist that there's no such thing as a wall between church and state is like saying that there's no such thing as the Electoral College. It's a deliberate refusal to accept the laws of the land in which they possess citizenship. Yes, they can't be kicked out of the country (which would be undesirable in any case), but when they disagree so distinctly with their own Constitution, one can hardly call them patriots.

Evangelical Christians are unabashed in their desire to infuse their religious beliefs with the secular laws that govern all American citizens - even those who do not share their beliefs. Are you a liberal Protestant, a Jew, or an Atheist? Too bad. If the Evangelicals get their way, you'll have to play by their rules, and never mind what the Constitution says, because the Constitution is wrong.

The clear message of "The Jesus Factor" is that George W. Bush is strongly guided by his religious beliefs, even where they conflict with the Constitution that he is pledged to uphold. There's a reason that, as the documentary states, even though several Jewish and Muslim groups applied for federal funds under Bush's faith based initiative program, not a single non-Christian group has, as yet, recieved funding.

What's strange is that some question whether or not John Kerry's faith might make him unsuitable for office, when Bush is counts himself a member of a religious movement that stands against a basic founding principal of America.

-B. C. Silvia
-5/5/2004