George W. Bush works from a deep abiding faith in God, and his faith and spirituality motivate his decisions. He wants to serve his country and God.

Autobiography: A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House
In his autobiography, A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House, Bush writes that he grew up attending the Presbyterian church in Midland, Texas. He served as an altar boy at an Episcopal church in Houston, and he and Laura have attended the Methodist church since their marriage. And although he has always attended and respected church, a “defining moment” came for him when he ran for governor of Texas. The grave duties of holding office have helped this public servant find an even more solid connection to God and spirituality than he had before.

This kind of one-pointed consciousness derived from faith lends a remarkable consistency to everything this president does. What has become known as the Bush Doctrine demonstrates that welcome consistency in an inconsistent world. This president believes that the only way to lasting peace is through freedom. People require freedom to strive and thrive.

So often the opponents who misunderstand this president either through ignorance or malicious political motivation refer to the War in Iraq as immoral because there were no weapons of mass destruction and that it appears Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Many people believe that the only reason this president went to war with that rogue nation was Saddam’s alleged possession of WMD.

War Resolution
But the Iraq War Resolution passed by the 107 Congress October 10, 2002, shows that possession of WMD was not the only reason, not even the most important reason. The failure to find WMD is seized upon by disgruntled Democrats such as John Kerry and Barbara Boxer when they want to support the erroneous notion that WMD was the only reason for attacking Saddam Hussein’s regime.

But the most important reason for war with Iraq is now and has always been to liberate the Iraqi people from the brutality of Saddam’s regime, and this reason is stated in the Iraq War Resolution:

Whereas Iraq persists in violating resolution of the United Nations Security Council by continuing to engage in brutal repression of its civilian population thereby threatening international peace and security in the region, by refusing to release, repatriate, or account for non-Iraqi citizens wrongfully detained by Iraq, including an American serviceman, and by failing to return property wrongfully seized by Iraq from Kuwait. (Iraq War Resolution)

Not a word about WMD here, but much about human rights violations upon his own people.

Bush has pointed out that the way a leader treats his own people indicates how he will treat other nations. The killing of 5000 Kurds in one day with gas indicates the kind of ruler Saddam Hussein was. And the fact that he tried to annex Kuwait in the early nineties indicates his danger to the entire Gulf area.

,b>Fighting Terrorism
Terrorism is fed by cruel regimes that seek to bolster support from their repressed citizens by making other nations the object of their hatred. For this reason, Bush takes as a priority encouraging democracy to enhance the lives of citizens. The Iraqi’s are proving that this stance is correct.

This president has integrity and shows consistency in performing his duties. He takes his duties seriously, because he wants to please God as well as the people who elected him to office.

Another example of the Bush Doctrine and its consistency can be found in this president’s stance on the creation of a Palestinian state. He has said that the United States can support such as state only if “entirely new political and economic institutions, based on democracy, market economics, and action against terrorism” (quoted by Podhoretz) were espoused by the Palestinian leadership.

Responsibility to duty informs this president’s work, and his strong faith in God gives him a moral clarity that is often so sorely lacking in his opponents. His integrity and intelligence as well as his cheerfulness and pleasing personality all are grounded in his faith. The United States and indeed the world are fortunate that George W. Bush is performing his duties to God and country, and performing them based on spirituality.

Reference:

Aikman, David. The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2004

Bush, George W. A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House. HarperCollins. New York: 1999.

Iraq War Resolution

Podhoretz, Norman. “Bush, Sharon, My Daughter, and Me.” Commentary. April 2005. Online.