I Cogitate

"...While many readers applaud his evident expertise and passion, some persist in attacking him for questioning the literal word of the Bible. That reaction, it strikes me, mirrors a growing divide in America: not between religions, or between believers and non-believers, but between questioning and non-questioning faith. And while the press should treat those who see every word of the holy books as devine truth with respect..."

In the November 6, 2004 Los Angeles Times: Nov, 6 LA Times  "The voters have delivered a moral mandate," D. James Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., declared.  "Now that values voters have delivered for George Bush, he must deliver for their values. The defense of innocent unborn human life, the protection of marriage and the nomination and confirmation of federal judges who will interpret the Constitution, not make law from the bench, must be first priorities, come January.”

Bob Jones' congratulatory letter to President Bush upon his re-election: "In your re-election, God has graciously granted America, ­though she doesn't deserve it, ­a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly.

It is easy to rejoice today, because Christ has allowed you to be His servant in this nation for another presidential term. Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years, ­a brief time only, ­to leave an imprint for righteousness upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God..."

Dr. James Dobson, as quoted in The Daily Oklahoman on October 23, 2004, during a Republican political rally: “...Patrick Leahy (a Democrat) is a ‘God’s people’ hater,” Dobson said. “I don’t know if he hates God, but he hates God’s people...”

"...America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of Enlightenment values - critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences. Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what was then modernity. They addressed "a candid world," as they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, out of "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." Respect for evidence seems not to pertain any more, when a poll taken just before the elections showed that 75 percent of Mr. Bush's supporters believe Iraq either worked closely with Al Qaeda or was directly involved in the attacks of 9/11.

The secular states of modern Europe do not understand the fundamentalism of the American electorate. It is not what they had experienced from this country in the past. In fact, we now resemble those nations less than we do our putative enemies.

Where else do we find fundamentalist zeal, a rage at secularity, religious intolerance, fear of and hatred for modernity? Not in France or Britain or Germany or Italy or Spain. We find it in the Muslim world, in Al Qaeda, in Saddam Hussein's Sunni loyalists..."

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