Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Jesus Is a Good Ole Boy

As evidenced by Pat Robertson's recent claim that God had told him personally that George Bush would win his reelection race by a landslide, we do indeed seem to be entering a new phase in our political life, one in which God has become a card-carrying member of the Republican Party.

There's an interesting editorial in today's New York Times, sent me by an alert reader, in which Nicholas Kristof writes:

"...America is riven today by a 'God gulf' of distrust, dividing churchgoing Republicans from relatively secular Democrats. A new Great Awakening is sweeping the country, with Americans increasingly telling pollsters that they believe in prayer and miracles, while only 28 percent say they believe in evolution. All this is good news for Bush Republicans, who are in tune with heartland religious values, and bad news for Dean Democrats who don't know John from Job.

"So expect Republicans to wage religious warfare by trotting out God as the new elephant in the race, and some Democrats to respond with hypocrisy, by affecting deep religious convictions. This campaign could end up as a tug of war over Jesus...."

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