George Bush and the Religious Right

By: Leroy A. Binns Ph.D.

In 2000 President George W. Bush made history by becoming party to the first father and son team to acquire the presidency of the United States since John Quincy Adams and the only chief executive to obtain such a position in a fashion akin to Benjamin Harrison who in 1888 won the electoral college while losing the popular vote nationwide.

Regrettably the re-elected president has also created waves by presiding over an evenly divided populace which brings into scrutiny his past and present commitments. Faced with the need to defuse a national political tension president-elect Bush expressed a conciliatory tone, “I was not elected to serve one party but to serve our nation. The president of the United States is the president of every single American, of every race and every background. Whether you voted for me or not I will do my best to serve your interests and will work for your respect.” Four years later a continued sense of disunity reinforced echoes of such remarks through yet another acceptance speech. “To make this nation stronger and better I will need your support, I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust.”

To some pundits the Commander in Chief wishes to defy the odds of a lame duck tenure and create a legacy by attaining his objectives during a second term in office. In support of such a notion they have taken into consideration his prompt substitutions to cabinet resignations with loyal aides and early emphasis on adjusting income tax and social security. They have also noted an advantage that could work in tandem with his political agenda – the increased control of both houses of Congress. Nonetheless despite this unparalleled achievement beyond the grasp of all previous second term presidents subsequent to 1951, his steadfastness to rigidity and merciless denouncements of evil, the likes of Watergate, the Iran Contra Ordeal and particularly the Lowensky Affair that beset presidents Nixon, Reagan and Clinton  may incite a price tag as indicated in an eloquent enunciation by the frustrated president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention Richard, “The go along, get along strategy is dead. We want a wedding ring, we want a ceremony, we want to the consummation of the marriage.”

This president, a self proclaimed born again Christian whose “faith is very personnel” and prays “for strength and wisdom everyday” is relentlessly courted by the Religious Right, an ultra-conservative evangelical network comprised of noted clerical figures namely the Moral Majority’s Jerry Falwell and the Christian Coalition’s Pat Robertson. The latter although existent throughout the 1960s and 70s was unable to promote the “pro-family” agenda on a national stage until the House of Representatives changed hands for the first time in forty years in 1994. Such an opportunity was later punctuated with the acknowledgement of transgression by President Clinton and a proclamation of the candidacy by the current Bush for the vacancy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Some Contentions of the Religious Right

Issues                                                              Expectations

Judicial appointments                         the selection of conservative judges to the bench

Gay unions                                          a constitutional amendment defining marriage
Abortion                                              a ban on abortion
School prayers                                     the restoration of school prayers in schools
Funding for religious establishments  increased assistance
Stem cell research                               the prohibition of stem cell research

Consequently sensing a commonly articulated interest they seized the moment in an anointment of “a man of God” for the presidential bid.

As governor of Texas the messenger had previously demonstrated a shared concern on matters of abortion, government funding and tax perks to religious classifications, school prayers and other church and state related issues. Following his declared conviction to answer the call for national leadership his allegiance to the cause of the Religious Right caught the attention of Pat Robertson who championed his candidacy with the launching of 21 Victory in an attempt to collect $21 million to fund a voter education program. Moreover another member of the clergy Jerry Falwell saw the light and established a comparable venture to avoid “an era of paganism.” The president was likewise the recipient of additional contributions from other religious quarters

A Partial Portrait of the Faithful

Leaders                                                           Organizations

Donald Wildmon                                            American Family Association
Gary Bauer                                                      Campaign for Working Families
D. James Kennedy                                          Center for Reclaiming America
Beverly LaHayle                                             Concerned Women for America
Beverly LaHayle                                             Beverly LaHayle Institute
Phyllis Schlafly                                               Eagle Forum
James Dobson                                                 Focus on the Family
Shirley Dobson                                               National Day of Prayer Task Force
William Murray                                              God is not Government PAC
Michael Farris                                                 Madison Project Fund
Lou Sheldon                                                   Tradition Value Coalition
Rick Scarborough                                           Vision America

In the end a strong mobilization of the flock attributed to 1.5 million field volunteers, the distribution of over 70 million voters guides and postcards, a host of “God and Country” political rallies and the delivery of 15 million votes on election day yielded a positive outcome.

An exit poll conducted by CNN measures the impact of this growing segment on the country’s closest presidential electoral contest.

Election 2000

Voters by Religion      All                  Gore                Bush                Buchanan       Nader

Protestant                    54%                 42%                 56%                 0%                   2%

Catholic                       26%                 50%                 47%                 1%                   2%
Jewish                          4%                  79%                 19%                  0%                   1%
Other                            6%                  62%                 28%                 1%                   7%

Religion – Whites only

Protestant                    14%                 34%                 63%                 1%                   2%

Catholic                       25%                45%                  52%                 0%                   2%
Jewish                         4%                   80%                 17%                 0%                   1%
Other                           5%                   53%                 35%                 0%                   8%

White Religious Right

Yes                              14%                 18%                 80%                 1%                   1%

No                                83%                 54%                 42%                 0%                   3%

In the tradition of19th century neo-calvinists, politician Abraham Kuyper declared “the family, business, science art and so forth are all social spheres which do not owe their existence to the state but obedience to a higher authority within their own bosom, an authority that rules by the grace of God.” This strain of thought also gained legitimacy through his protégé World magazine editor and intellectual Marvin Olasky who theorizes in  “The Tragedy of American Compassion” that poverty is a spiritual problem that government policy has nor caused and cannot cure and provides a rational for Bush’s pronouncements of spirituality which resonates with the sacred assembly.

Evidence of an intimacy during the president’s first term on office is partly accredited to the insights of White House political guru Karl Rove and reflects frequent sessions with the likes of former Southern Baptist Convention president James Merritt, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson and former director of the Christian Coalition Ralph Reed among others, the establishment of the office of Faith Based Initiatives and a proposed constitutional amendment clarifying marriage. Furthermore the demonization of secular humanism and liberalism equated with the Kerry campaign, Senator Specter’s nomination spectacle and an appropriate observation by Arthur Finkelstein an advisor to New York’s Governor George Pataki which describes the Republican party as “the most radical in modern history ever” are reflected via exit surveys of the most recent presidential referendum.

Election 2004

Votes by Religion       All                   Bush                Kerry               Nader

Protestant                    54%                 59%                 40%                 0%

Catholic                       27%                 52%                 47%                 0%
Jewish                         3%                   25%                 74%                 0%
Other                           7%                   23%                 74%                 1%

White Evangelical/Born Again

Yes                              23%                 78%                 21%                 0%

No                               77%                 43%                 56%                 0%

Notwithstanding the squandering of political capital on the domestic and international frontiers implied by the resignation of six cabinet members and expressed by a Washington based right wing think tank the Heritage Foundation and conservatives such as Paul Weyrich the national chairman of Coalitions for America and Paul Becker president for Citizens for a Sound Economy the party remains for the foreseeable future the torch bearer for the Christian Coalition thus complicating the functions of this president. In a divisive environment with an unclear and limited mandate on matters of fiscal responsibility, intelligence reform and occupation in Iraq will he ignore the social concerns of many in the name of a de facto theocracy?

To silence voices on controversial subjects of debate specifically abortion, stem cell research and school prayers questions the validity of our constitution and redefines American democracy. By the same token an alternative of an ecclesiastical order is ill advised as it favors political establishments notably the Taliban of Afghanistan and the Islamic regime in Iran by championing a set of religious values with disdain and disregard for others – a reality explicitly illustrated by Franklin Graham’s condemnation of Islam. Further blurring the line between religion and politics limits and creates boundaries to basic privileges long afforded the American public.

As the fundamentalists forge ahead in preparation for legal disputes and the 2008 presidential contest with the pending launch of a law school at Liberty University and the Faith and Values Coalition hope springs eternal. If owned by the religious right as asserted by the Christian Coalition president Roberta Combs and implicitly concurred by the president of the National Evangelical Association Ted Haggard the oval office has abandoned its civic duties in lieu of clericalism. President Bush must revisit his defining statement on abortion during his debate for a second term in office, “I can’t take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who does not share that article of faith.” In addition he should also reassess the composition of his constituents to which the majority of his Ohio base an enlarged yet small fraction of his total support (54% catholic and 79% evangelical) exhibit the national sentiment.

Senator Orrin Hatch’s affirmation of a unifying president must resound within and beyond the halls of Congress as a balancing act warrants consideration to entertain an ongoing discourse and sustain social growth within a polarized America.