I am deeply concerned about President Bush’s bending of theology to serve the needs of his blind crusade to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.

I am among those who fear that our own leader is becoming little more than a religious zealot. He claims to start each day on bended knee and pray for guidance at his desk. Yet, for many months now, his infamous choice of the word “”evil”” has done nothing but further drive a dividing line between nations and perspectives.

He is taking us to war, against the will of a huge number of us, riding on a tide of his own sense of righteousness. Is this so different from religious extremist behavior that we fear from radical Islam, for example?

What makes war waged by the U.S. guided by God and war waged by others “”evil””?

War is dirty, ugly, expensive and wracked with pain and suffering.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a leader who was seen in the world community as working for peace, listening to the voices of critics, hearing what others have to say and bringing nations together to find a peaceful solution to this deepening crisis, instead of leading us directly into it with fists raised?

I would like to end with a quote from former President Dwight Eisenhower, who evidently had learned some lessons about war:

“”Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.””

Rebecca Myers, Turner

Copy the Story Link