President George W. Bush’s new “values campaign” is the latest evidence of
an administration that is determined to merge religion and government,
according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
According to multiple media accounts, Bush is in the process of slowly
implementing a broadly based agenda to promote conservative Christian
religious principles through government policies.
“Bush is the nation’s president, not the national pastor,” said the Rev.
Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “He swore on the
Bible to uphold the Constitution, not the other way around.
“Bush is working tirelessly and recklessly to permanently blur the line
between government policy and church doctrine,” Lynn continued. “These
assaults on the First Amendment are unprecedented in presidential history.
There’s nothing wrong with supporting commonly shared values, but it’s
terribly wrong to shape the law to mirror religious dogma. Unfortunately, it
appears Bush fails to appreciate the difference.”
Lynn noted multiple recent examples to demonstrate Bush’s ongoing crusade to
merge church and state:
- Promoting religious revival: Media reports indicate that Bush believes the
nation is “on the cusp of a religious revival,” and he hopes to “break
through” by means of his leadership and policy initiatives. The president’s
recent high-profile meeting with Pope John Paul II was designated by the
White House as the kick-off of a broader initiative. (U.S. News & World
Report, 7/23/01) - President as moral leader: Bush intends to use his “values agenda” to
position himself as the moral leader of the nation. The administration will
downplay theological motivations. The White House Office of Strategic
Initiatives, headed by Karl Rove, said in a memo the “project should not be
seen as religious-based.” (The Washington Post, 7/29/01) - Stem cell policy and religion: On the controversy surrounding publicly
funded stem cell research, Bush is working closely with religious leaders
and advisors to help ensure that government policy is consistent with the
principles of conservative Protestant leaders and the Catholic hierarchy.
White House staffers, for example, take part in weekly telephone conferences
with conservative Catholic activists to discuss strategy on the issue. (Los
Angeles Times, 7/8/01; The Washington Post, 7/30/01) - Abstinence-only education: The Bush administration is also promoting
abstinence education policies with religion in mind. A Catholic deacon
working in the Department of Health and Human Services recently expressed
doubt about a sexual health program developed by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention because he thought it was inconsistent with the
Catholic beliefs of HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. In addition, the White
House is working to scale back traditional family planning programs while
diverting public resources to “abstinence-only” programs run by evangelical
Christian groups. (The Washington Post, 7/30/01) - Faith-based initiative: For sixth months, Bush has aggressively promoted a
“faith-based initiative,” which would provide billions of tax dollars to
religious groups to provide social services. On several occasions, while
promoting this campaign, the president has indicated his willingness to
“fund faith” and recognize the “power of faith” by awarding grants to
ministries. - Religious school vouchers: After unsuccessfully promoting voucher
subsidies for religious schools in its education plan, the Bush
administration has now urged the Supreme Court to grant an appeal from
Cleveland pro-voucher activists. The White House, with assistance from
Solicitor General Theodore Olson and Ken Starr, urged the justices to hear
the case, despite the fact that the federal government has played no role in
the lawsuit.
“The president’s ‘values campaign’ would be far more constructive if it
recognized the value of the First Amendment,” concluded AU’s Lynn. “Bush is
not only blurring the line between church and state, he’s also crossing the
line between president and missionary.”