Bush Bookends Presidency with Jesus, Life Day Proclamations
When he famously proclaimed Christ his favorite philosopher ("because he changed my heart") during a 1999 Republican debate, George W. Bush was signaling the outsized role the religious right would play in his presidency. Now as his disastrous tenure in the White House draws to a close, President Bush has offered Christian conservatives a final parting gift in the form of "National Sanctity of Human Life Day." As it turns out, that January 18, 2009 goodbye kiss to anti-abortion extremists is the perfect bookend to then Governor Bush's 2000 proclamation of "Jesus Day."
On March 17, 2000, the Texas Governor made clear that the wall between church and state would be in for some heavy demolition work during his subsequent presidency. That day, Bush signed an order making June 10, 2000 "Jesus Day." In a few sentences, Bush showed his disdain - and ignorance - for the basics of American civics and world religions alike:
Throughout the world, people of all religions recognize Jesus Christ as an example of love, compassion, sacrifice and service. Reaching out to the poor, the suffering and the marginalized, he provided moral leadership that continues to inspire countless men, women, and children today.
To honor his life and teachings, Christians of all races and denominations have joined together to designate June 10 as Jesus Day. [...] Jesus Day challenges people to follow Christ's example by performing good works in their communities and neighborhoods. [...]
I urge all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need. By volunteering their time, energy or resources to helping others, adults and youngsters follow Christ's message of love and service in thought and deed.
Therefore I, George W. Bush, Governor of Texas, do hereby proclaim June 10, 2000, Jesus Day.
While President-Elect Barack Obama made a similar call for volunteerism today, his plea went to Americans of every religion (including none at all), this time to honor the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But in one of his final acts as President, George W. Bush served up one final serving of red meat to his party's radical right.
Bush's last salvo in the culture wars came in the guise of National Sanctity of Human Life Day. The announcement last week pegged January 18, just before the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, as a day some Americans to denounce other Americans' reproductive rights. Regurgitating his "culture of life" sound bite until the bitter end, Bush reaffirmed the apparent conservative orthodoxy that life begins at conception and ends at birth:
All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.
America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.
Of course, sandwiched between Bush's proclamations for Jesus and against the privacy rights of American women were policies that made a laughingstock out of "the gifts of science" and "the gift of life."
From the inception of his presidency, George W. Bush undermined stem cell research in the United States and promoted demonstrably counterproductive abstinence-only sex education. (Even his laudable PEPFAR program to battle AIDS wasn't free of the taint of the religious right's abstinence-only handcuffs.) Through his faith-based initiative, Bush awarded billions in federal taxpayer dollars to religious charities, even allowing them to discriminate in hiring. Of course, through a midnight regulation promulgated by his Department of Health and Human Services, the nation's health care providers must retain workers who on religious grounds refuse to provide abortion services, artificial insemination procedures and even birth control. Before naming ultra hard line abortion foes John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, Bush's FDA for years blocked over the counter sales of the Plan B emergency contraceptive. And just last month, Bush awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to convicted Watergate felon turned prison minister, Chuck Colson.
As George W. Bush's unparalleled unpopularity suggests, there is only one day of celebration and commemoration that matters has he slinks off into history. That would be January 20, 2009, Barack Obama's Inauguration Day.
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