**Abuse photos undermine Bush’s religious rhetoric
Church leaders object to casting God on U.S. side **
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
Friday, May 7, 2004
The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by some U.S. soldiers points to the danger of President Bush describing the occupation of Iraq and the war on terror as battles between forces of good and the “evildoers” of the world, religious leaders say.
Even before compromising photos of nude and hooded prisoners surfaced in the news media, some mainline Protestant and American Muslim leaders had criticized the president for a series of speeches that appeared to say that God was on the side of America.
"We question that kind of theology – putting ‘good’ on us and ‘evil’ on the other,’’ said Antonios Kireopoulous, the associate general secretary for international affairs at the National Council of Churches, the major ecumenical agency in the United States.
"Seeing these photos of prisoner abuse puts the lie to that,’’ he said in an interview Thursday. "It shows the crack in that kind of thinking.’’
In his remarks Thursday marking the annual National Day of Prayer, President Bush showed new caution in his use of religious language. “God is not on the side of any nation,” he said during the White House gathering.
"He finds his children within every culture and every tribe,’’ the president added.
Former President Ronald Reagan established the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer. While the day is described as an interfaith event, it is primarily promoted by conservative evangelicals. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush often spoke of his Christian faith in personal, self- help terms, revealing how a conversation with evangelist Billy Graham and a “born-again” conversion helped him overcome a drinking problem and lack of direction in his life.
But in the aftermath of the terror attacks, Bush’s religious rhetoric began to reflect what one noted theologian calls "American messianic nationalism.’’
Rosemary Ruether, a professor of theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, said the president and many of his supporters on the Christian right speak of his administration as "messianic agents chosen by God to combat evil and to establish good.’’
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