God and Empire

Bush is often accused of bringing a fervent religiosity to the office of the president. There's no question he does nothing to disavow the most fundamental Christian Conservatives. But our rights are said to be “endowed by our creator” – a powerful phrase that links freedom directly to God. God pops up everywhere in our civic discourse all through American history.

Does the Left want to make that a relic of the past? Or is it simply this single-minded, unapologetic president that they find alarming?

And now, if I am reading the inaugural speech correctly, freedom and democracy have become not merely strong suggestions, but a choose-or-lose international policy. I agree these represent the best principles on which a society can be based. And I don't think any nation is unworthy or incapable of getting there eventually.

But don't free societies require some deeply rooted institutional foundations before democracy can be supported? Can social norms that encourage closed-mindedness be simply shaken off almost overnight? And will America be willing to stand aside if emergent democracies reflexively vote the old tyrants back into power?