President Bush Announces Religious Agenda on Inauguration Day
Bush Presents Himself as 'Determined Foe of Church-State' Separation
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WASHINGTON - January 20 - George W. Bush, sworn in today as the nation's 43rd
president, announced a religious agenda in his inaugural address, including
an emphasis on using houses of worship for providing publicly financed social
services. Just moments after being sworn in as president, Bush used a speech
laced with religious rhetoric to explain the role religion will play in his
administration.
"[S]ome needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentor's
touch or a pastor's prayer," Bush said. "Church and charity, synagogue and
mosque, lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored
place in our plans and laws."
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation
of Church and State, expressed concern about Bush's comments.
"Bush apparently believes he was elected national preacher as well as
president," Lynn said. "The newly elected president presented himself today
as a determined foe of church-state separation. The Constitution he swore to
uphold simply does not permit the president to merge religion and government.
"Churches and other houses of worship play a cherished role in our society,
but they do not have a role in our secular laws," Lynn added. "Bush's remarks
showed a gross insensitivity to the constitutional principle of government
neutrality on religion."
Bush also used his inaugural address to emphasize his plans for education,
remarking, "Together, we will reclaim America's schools, before ignorance and
apathy claim more young lives." News agencies were reporting today that Bush
will unveil an education plan on Tuesday that will feature vouchers for
religious and other private schools.
"Far too much of Bush's agenda calls for a unity between church and state,"
noted AU's Lynn. "To protect the religious liberties of all Americans, his
plans must be rejected by Congress."
In one of his first acts as the nation's chief executive, Bush issued a
proclamation ordering today as a "national day of prayer." Bush, in the
proclamation, called "upon the citizens of our Nation to gather together in
homes and places of worship to pray alone and together and offer thanksgiving
to God for all the blessings of this great and good land." He added, "I ask
Americans to bow our heads in humility before our Heavenly Father, a God who
calls us not to judge our neighbors, but to love them, to ask His guidance
upon our Nation and its leaders in every level of government."
Ironically, Bush quoted Thomas Jefferson both in his inaugural address and
his day of prayer proclamation. Jefferson, a staunch advocate of church-state
separation, never issued a prayer proclamation in order to preserve
government neutrality on religious matters.
"Bush would have been wise to follow Jefferson's example and allow Americans
to make up their own minds about how and when to pray," said AU's Lynn. "It
would have gotten the Bush presidency off to a much better start.
"The Bush Administration is only a few hours old and it already has signaled
remarkable hostility for church-state separation," concluded Lynn. "Anyone
concerned with this nation's religious liberties should realize that the next
four years will be awfully busy."
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington,
D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization represents 60,000 members and allied
houses of worship in all 50 states.
