A Funeral and a Photo Op
Bush Teaches Young Americans How to Use—and When to Ignore—Religion
By Dr. Teresa Whitehurst
April 14, 2005
“’Symbolic conduct’ is the term coined by David Perkins, PhD of Harvard University to describe how our behaviors communicate our attitudes, assumptions and values…children read between the lines of your behavior—your symbolic conduct—to discover your true values and priorities.” Jesus on Parenting: 10 Essential Principles that Will Transform Your Family
In early 2003, George W. Bush tried to obtain the pope's blessings for his plan to declare a "defensive" war on small, weak nation that had nothing to do with 9/11--Iraq. He didn't get it.
But instead of halting his plans or having a major rethink, Mr. Bush made it clear to all that he never really needed the Vatican’s okay in the first place, and proceeded to send in the bombs.
Now Mr. and Mrs. Bush have attended the pope’s funeral with great fanfare and many flattering post-humous remarks, but somehow neither seems to remember Mr. Bush's repeated dismissals of the pope’s grave warnings against the loose wars, torture, and seemingly endless human rights violations perpetuated by his administration.
Merrily lauding the pope as one who “challenged” the US, Bush conveniently omits any reference to the pope’s serious conflicts with both President Bushes and their unChristlike promotion of war and the death penalty. This PR manipulation of Mr. Bush’s tenuous ties with the pope, performed when the deceased cannot speak up to disagree or clarify such gross re-interpretations, is so offensive we can’t bear to think about it. But Americans of conscience must also ask ourselves: What does this clever maneuver teach our children? Consider this watering-down of Pope John Paul’s opposition to Bush’s pre-emptive wars:
“Bush credited the pope with teaching the communist rulers of Poland and the former Soviet Union "that moral truth had legions of its own and a force greater than their armies and secret police." He said the pope also "challenged America always to live up to its lofty calling." Bush Bids Farewell to Pope Who 'Challenged America' Reuters 4/9/05
The pope “challenged America”, all right—and under the reckless war-happy leadership of George Bush, America failed that challenge:
“John Paul II sent his personal representative, Cardinal Pio Laghi, a friend of the Bush family, to remonstrate with the U.S. President before the war began. The message: God is not on your side if you invade Iraq.
“After the United States began its attacks against Iraq, FOX News actually reported the immediate comments of the Holy Father, made in an address at the Vatican to members of an Italian religious television channel, Telespace: "When war, as in these days in Iraq, threatens the fate of humanity, it is ever more urgent to proclaim, with a strong and decisive voice, that only peace is the road to follow to construct a more just and united society," John Paul said. "Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of man."
“Americans were largely unaware of the depth and importance of the opposition of Church leaders to an attack on Iraq, since for the most part the mainstream media did not carry the stories. In the same way, many Americans were unaware that Pope John Paul II spoke against the first Gulf War 56 times. Media in the United States omitted this from the commentaries on the war.” Pope John Paul II calls War a Defeat for Humanity: Neoconservative Iraq Just War Theories Rejected, Houston Catholic Worker, July-August 2003. (emphasis added)
Bush Teaches American Youth that Forgiveness is Easier than Permission
When children, teens and young adults hear Bush’s gushing post-mortem praise for the pope whose pleas he ignored time and again, how will they make sense of this contradiction? What are they learning from their presidential role model? They’ll learn to strategically use religion to get permission or forgiveness for immoral acts.
Many Americans agonized about the lessons that kids were learning from Bill Clinton’s sexual misconduct. Conservative pundits, preachers and politicians emphasized that he was bad role model for our young. Why are those same critics now looking the other way as Bush models how to use religion for political purposes without letting it get in the way of one’s plans? Why are they not outraged to see Bush pretending that he and Pope John Paul II agreed on the latter's view of a comprehensive“culture of life”?
“Bush will become the first U.S. president in history to attend a pope's funeral. He also ordered U.S. flags flown at half staff for almost a full week -- from Saturday until Friday night -- over federal facilities at home and abroad. These extraordinary steps represent an unprecedented expression of communion between an American president and a religious leader…Most notably, Bush has consciously appropriated the pope's phrase -- "culture of life" -- when discussing abortion, stem-cell research and other social-conservative issues…
“But at the same time, the pope's interpretation of the phrase was considerably wider than the president's. While they shared the view that the "culture of life" extended to abortion and euthanasia, the president did not share the pope's feeling that it also extended to the death penalty and the Iraq war -- which the pope opposed.” The President, the Pope and the Politics, washingtonpost.com, 4/4/05
Bush Teaches American Youth How to Use (and When to Ignore) Religion
Why are all those who blasted Clinton’s duplicity silent now, even as they hear Bush’s deceptive and patronizing praise at the pontiff’s funeral? Do they really want to give the impression that “religious relativism” is okay? Do they not object when their leaders teach America’s youth that you can get away with even the worst violations of religious teachings if you simply downplay the negative and accent the positive?
“Bush was courting one of those "Catholic votes" when he visited Pope John Paul II in the middle of his re-election campaign last June. During his audience, the pope pointedly denounced "recent deplorable events," a clear reference to news of the Abu Ghraib prison abuses in Iraq, and the pontiff pointed to his previous statements of concern about the war in Iraq in general. Bush nonetheless identified himself with the pope's teachings against abortion and on other aspects of a "culture of life," a phrase the president regularly repeated on the campaign trail.” Catholic vote in America important, but divided, 4/10/05 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Our kids are learning from Mr. Bush and his stage-managed administration how to look ever more righteous with strategic photo-ops and the passage of time, by twisting words to reframe the past. When his administration agrees with religion, they shout it from the rooftops. But when actual religion gets in the way of what it wants, it shrugs off the conflict by noting that the Bush administration must make “hard choices” that sweet-but-unrealistic religious folks can’t be expected to understand.
After the Abu Ghraib torture scandal went public, Bush again went to see the pope and get a papal blessing of sorts. The American press cooperated by highlighting the positive:
“Bush received warm personal words from the pope, who hailed his "commitment to the promotion of moral values in American society, particularly with regard to respect for life and the family…Yet the pope did not shy away from criticizing U.S. policy. In a reference to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, the pope said: "In the past few weeks, other deplorable events have come to light which have troubled the civic and religious conscience of all, and made more difficult a serene and resolute commitment to shared human values. In the absence of such a commitment, neither war nor terrorism will ever be overcome." Pope Presses Bush on Iraq Violence: Pontiff Mixes Personal Praise, Policy Criticism as Thousands Protest in Rome, Washington Post, 6/5/04
"The pope taught us that the foundation for human freedom is a universal respect for human dignity," Bush said. This man and others in his violence-prone, torture-friendly administration are teaching America’s youth—including the children of conservative Christians—how to use religion when it helps, and ignore it when it gets in the way. Conservatives and liberals alike should worry when supposedly “godly leaders” teach our kids to talk the walk without having to take a single step in the right direction.
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Dr. Teresa Whitehurst is a clinical psychologist, author of Jesus on Parenting: 10 Essential Principles That Will Transform Your Family (2004) and coauthor of The Nonviolent Christian Parent (2004). She writes the column, “Democracy, Faith and Values: Because You Shouldn’t Have to Choose Just One”, as seen on her website.