Many
Evangelical Christians will vote for George W. Bush because of his faith, because
he “takes a stand for Christ,” and because he “prays for
guidance.” Bush’s alleged “stand for Christ” has won
him a great prize, the votes of more than 35 million people! We think there
is more to being a Christian leader than lip-service and prayer, and we urge
Christians to use their God-given discernment before casting their votes this
November.
Shouldn’t a Christian leader exhibit qualities of integrity, godly character, and keep godly company? Jesus said, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so every good tree bears good fruit, but the rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit.” (Matt. 7:15-18). We want to bring to our attention some of the most notable “fruit” produced by the Bush administration.
President Bush and his administration built a case for invading Iraq based on Iraq’s alleged stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. The case for weapons of mass destruction was presented to the United Nations, to Congress, and to the American people. Where are the weapons of mass destruction? None have been found.
The Bush administration said that Al Quaida had definite ties to Iraq and Saddam Hussein. No such ties have been found. The 9/11 Commission said recently that such a link—if it even existed—was minimal.
The Bush administration changed the tune and said the invasion wasn’t about weapons of mass destruction, but about liberating the Iraqi people and bringing democracy to the region. Torture and abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison evidence how much liberation the Iraqis have.
Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9)
On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the hijacking of four airplanes and the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Bush administration did not even form a commission to investigate until family members of the victims persisted in their request for 14 months.
When the commission was formed, the Bush administration was anything but cooperative. Several weeks passed before National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice flatly agreed to testify! President Bush himself would only testify in a closed session with Vice President Cheney at his side.
Why the stonewalling? Does this administration have something to hide? Is there some sort of cover up?
Jesus said "Let your yes be yes and your no be no, anything beyond that is of the evil one." (Matthew 5:37)
We thought that Jesus taught us to have compassion on the poor and to be charitable. The Bush administration, apparently, thinks otherwise. Here are some quotes about the Bush tax cuts:
Over the ten-year period, the richest Americans—the best-off one percent—are slated to receive tax cuts totaling almost half a trillion dollars. The $477 billion in tax breaks the Bush administration has targeted to this elite group will average $342,000 each (Ed. note: per family) over the decade.
By 2010, when (and if) the Bush tax reductions are fully in place, an astonishing 52 percent of the total tax cuts will go to the richest one percent—whose average 2010 income will be $1.5 million. Their tax-cut windfall in that year alone will average $85,000 each. Put another way, of the estimated $234 billion in tax cuts scheduled for the year 2010, $121 billion will go just 1.4 million taxpayers.
Although the rich have already received a hefty down payment on their Bush tax cut—averaging just under $12,000 each this year—80 percent of their windfall is scheduled to come from tax changes that won’t take effect until after this year, mostly from items that phase in after 2005. (1)
And this was before the more recent tax cuts! Of these recent tax the Center for American Progress has this to say:
By next year, for instance, 88% of all Americans will receive $100 or less from the Administration's latest tax cuts. But even above and beyond this, the tax cuts and the deficits they have created have forced the Administration to raise fees and cut services for most Americans—which is an effective tax increase on average Americans. In many ways, the Administration’s fiscal/budget policies are actually taking more money out of people’s pockets. (2)
"...Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You? then He will answer them saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'" Matt. 25:44-45
"If you wish to be complete, go and sell our possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me." Matt. 19:21
Much more of Bush’s record, actions, and policies might be troubling to conscientious followers of Jesus.
Bush has not honored one fallen soldier, nor attended one single funeral or memorial. Our dead and wounded return at night, the press is not allowed to photograph the caskets, we rarely—if ever—hear from or even see the wounded (more than 5,000).
Bush seems to have had some insider trading and shady business dealings of his own:
According to the security and exchange commission, Mr Bush failed to file a form detailing the 1990 sale of $850,000 (£490,000) in stock of the Harken Energy corp just two months before the value of those shares plummeted. At the time, Mr Bush was a board member of the oil company, which was later the subject of an SEC investigation...
Mr Bush’s stock sale was the subject of an SEC insider trading investigation. The president sold Harken stock for $850,000 two months before the company reported millions of dollars in losses. The stock price plunged from $4 when Bush sold it in June 1990 to a dollar a share by year-end.
He had received the stock when Harken bought his failing oil company in the mid-1980s. The SEC took no action in the insider trading investigation of Mr Bush. (3)
Not to mention the following:
Excerpted from Sojourners Magazine
President Bush uses religious language more than any president in U.S. history, and some of his key speechwriters come right out of the evangelical community. Sometimes he draws on biblical language, other times old gospel hymns that cause deep resonance among the faithful in his own electoral base. The problem is that the quotes from the Bible and hymnals are too often either taken out of context or, worse yet, employed in ways quite different from their original meaning. For example, in the 2003 State of the Union, the president evoked an easily recognized and quite famous line from an old gospel hymn. Speaking of America’s deepest problems, Bush said, “The need is great. Yet there’s power, wonder-working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people.” But that's not what the song is about. The hymn says there is “power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb” (emphasis added). The hymn is about the power of Christ in salvation, not the power of “the American people,” or any people, or any country. Bush’s citation was a complete misuse.
On the first anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, President Bush said at Ellis Island, “This ideal of America is the hope of all mankind…. That hope still lights our way. And the light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not overcome it.” Those last two sentences are straight out of John’s gospel. But in the gospel the light shining in the darkness is the Word of God, and the light is the light of Christ. It’s not about America and its values. Even his favorite hymn, “A Charge to Keep,” speaks of that charge as “a God to glorify”—not to “do everything we can to protect the American homeland,” as Bush has named our charge to keep.
Bush seems to make this mistake over and over again —confusing nation, church, and God. The resulting theology is more American civil religion than Christian faith. (5)
—Jim Wallis,“Dangerous Religion” Sept/Oct. 2003
After what most certainly will go down in the history books as one of the dirtiest campaigns ever, we continue tostand by our critique of the presidency of George W. Bush. It is our hope that someday, Evangelicals will judge a candidate—not by profession of faith, not by the “stand” taken on a select number of hot button issues—but by godly character, acts of compassion, and love of justice.
(1) From Citizens for Tax Justice, June 2002
(2) “The Bush Tax Increase,” Center for American Progress, February 20, 2004
(3) “Bush on Back Foot over Corporate Past,” The Guardian, July 4, 2002
(4) “Bush’s Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides” by Doug Thompson, Common Dreams website, from Capitol Hill Blue, June 4, 2004
(5) “Dangerous Religion” by Jim Wallis, Sojourners Magazine, Sept./Oct. 2003
