Bush’s Bible
A Wild Beast Loosed Upon the World
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v2i1.109Keywords:
religion, nature, cultureAbstract
George Bush, 43, leans on the Hebrew Bible’s fierce criticism, not only of ancient Israel’s external enemies, but also of its perceived enemies within. The language of righteous empire, of God being on our side and our having this divine mission, has carried the Bush Presidency through torture, carnage, and slaughter. Like the kings against whom the prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel speak out, Bush has epitomized the dark side of power, a landscape where death abounds. Further, one wonders about the identity of the Jesus that Bush invokes. In my opinion, the gospel words have been rubbed away, leaving only the gold and glitter, revealing Jesus as an icon of royal power and triumph.
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———. 2005. “Trading in Souls: Terrorism and Tourism in the Middle East.” Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts and Contemporary Worlds 1.1:105–24.
Bush, George W. 2005. “President’s Remarks at National Day of Prayer and Remembrance Service.” Washington National Cathedral. Washington, DC, September 16. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050916-4.html. Accessed 27 January 2007.
———. 2006. “President Discusses War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio, March 20. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060320-7.html. Accessed 27 January 2007.
Carnes, Tony. 2000. “A Presidential Hopeful’s Progress.” Christianity Today, October 2:64.
Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. 2006. The Politics of Apocalypse: The History and Influence of Christian Zionism. Oxford: Oneworld.
Easton, Nina J. 2002. “The Power and the Glory: Who Needs the Christian Coalition When You’ve Got the White House?” The American Prospect, 20 May.
Green, Stephen. 2004. “Serving Two Flags: Neocons, Israel and the Bush Administration.” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May: 20–23, 91. http://www.washington-report.org/archives/May_2004/0405020.html. Accessed 27 January 2007.
Interview with Doug Wead. 2003. “The Jesus Factor.” PBS Frontline. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/interviews/wead.html. Accessed 27 January 2007.
Jones, Jim. 2004. “Bush is Gone, but Midland Bible Course Continues.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 12.
Keen, Judy. 2002. “White House Staffers Gather for Bible Study.” USA Today, October 13. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002-10-13-bibleusat_x.htm. Accessed 27 January 2007.
Law-Yone, H. 1994. “Stuck in the Past.” Jerusalem Post, March 17.
Lifton, Robert Jay. 2003. Superpower Syndrome: America’s Apocalyptic Confrontation with the World. New York: Nation.
Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen Walt. 2006. “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.” John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Faculty Research Working Paper Series Number RWP06-011, submitted March 13. http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011. Summary in London Review of Books, March 10. Accessed 27 January 2007.
“Midland’s Community Bible Study.” 2004. “The Jesus Factor.” PBS Frontline. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/president/cbs.html. Accessed 27 January 2007.
Pardes, Ilana. 2000. The Biography of Ancient Israel: National Narratives in the Bible. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Perle, Richard. 2003. “Turkey at the Crossroads.” American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, September 22. http://www.aei.org/events/contentID.20031003144313426/default.asp. Accessed 27 January 2007.
Siker, Jeffrey S. 2003. “President Bush, Biblical Faith, and the Politics of Religion.” Society of Biblical Literature Newsletter, May. http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=151. Accessed 27 January 2007.
Singer, Peter. 2004. The President of Good and Evil: Questioning the Ethics of George W. Bush. New York: Plume.
———. 2006. Lecture. Case Western Reserve University, March 21.
Zidani, S. n.d. “Democratic Citizenship and the Arabs in Israel.” Qadaya (Jerusalem): 5.
“Zion’s Christian Soldiers.” 2002. 60 Minutes. CBS, 5 October.
Published
2007-05-20
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Bach, A. (2007). Bush’s Bible: A Wild Beast Loosed Upon the World. Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts, 2(1), 109-125. https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v2i1.109
