NEWS STORY: Private Faith, Public Religion, Merge at Bush Inauguration

c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Presidential inaugurations tend to be sober affairs with benign overtures to national unity and American pride. References to God tend to be generic and genteel. But after a bitterly fought presidential campaign in which religion played a larger-than-expected role, President Bush’s second inauguration took on a distinctive spiritual […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Presidential inaugurations tend to be sober affairs with benign overtures to national unity and American pride. References to God tend to be generic and genteel.

But after a bitterly fought presidential campaign in which religion played a larger-than-expected role, President Bush’s second inauguration took on a distinctive spiritual flavor.


It reflected a man of outspoken Christian faith whose evangelical beliefs have galvanized his conservative religious base but alienated others from different faith backgrounds. From a lawsuit attacking inaugural prayers to a ban on crosses that could be turned into weapons along the parade route, the 55th presidential inauguration became a flashpoint for a president _ and a country _ often defined by religious faith.

In his inaugural address, Bush spoke of a nation sustained “by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Quran and the varied faiths of our people.”

But despite the civic ecumenism, there were references to religion’s polarizing effects that flared up in the weeks prior to the inauguration.

Michael Newdow, the California atheist whose challenge to the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance was dismissed on a technicality last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, failed in his attempt to stop the inaugural prayers.

Both pastors chosen by Bush to pray at the ceremonies _ the Rev. Luis Leon of Washington’s St. John’s Church and the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston _ invoked the Pledge _ “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” _ in asking God’s blessings.

In choosing Leon, Bush picked the rector of the “church of the presidents” one block away from the White House. The choice of Caldwell was a nod to a spiritual supporter who hails from Bush’s Texas turf in the Bible Belt.

Caldwell, who drew fire at Bush’s first inauguration for praying “in the name that’s above all other names, Jesus the Christ,” moderated his prayer a bit this time, “respecting persons of all faith … in the name of Jesus Christ.”


Beyond the scripted pomp of the official ceremonies, clues to the religious flavor of the Bush presidency could be found on the margins. On the one hand, at an evangelical gala on the eve of the inauguration, jubilant conservatives _ sipping apple cider spritzers in martini glasses _ were told by a White House official that it was “God’s will” that Bush won a second term. Across town, Buddhists prayed for peace in a world torn by terrorism and war.

The evangelical party gave Bush supporters an opportunity to revel in the re-election of one of their own. Some 800 conservative Christians “broke bread” at a $300-a-ticket celebration at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Bush’s chief political strategist, Karl Rove, dropped by to say thanks.

“You knocked on doors, and you talked to your neighbors and you got out the vote in a big way,” Rove said.

At the gala, where diamond cross necklaces replaced plunging necklines, the crowd applauded when Tim Goeglein, Bush’s liaison to evangelicals, said, “We have a gracious God whose will it was that tomorrow George W. Bush would place his left hand on the Bible” and take the oath of office.

During dinner, two large screens displayed Bush’s recent quote: “I don’t see how you can be president without a relationship with the Lord.”

Jim Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition said the gala his group organized was officially nonpartisan but conceded it would have had a different feel if Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., had been elected. “A little less celebration, a lot more prayer,” he said.


The Buddhists gathered across town at a Unitarian church for a candlelight vigil and meditation “for the victims of war and aggression and those suffering from division, anger and fear.”

The vigil was “one of those few things that has a different feel to it _ it’s not all shouting slogans,” said Hugh Byrne, a co-founder of the Washington Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

Nonetheless, the week’s celebrations were a moment of revelry for Bush’s conservative Christian base, with evangelicals vying for ballroom space with Texas cowgirls in leather boots and glittery gowns.

As Bush was praying at St. John’s Church on Thursday morning before riding to the Capitol for his swearing-in, about 1,000 Christians met at an officially nonpartisan prayer breakfast, where some thanked God for Bush’s re-election.

Charles Anderson, a lay minister from West Helena, Ark., was among the thankful.

“We believe that God has set President Bush in order for such a time as this and that he is an actual burning bush for the United States and for the world, kind of like a light,” Anderson said in an interview. “As the bush burns, it’s also setting people free because fire cleanses.”

In a nation divided between red and blue states, many in the ballroom seemed to think God had a stake in last year’s election, and even took sides.


“Lord, thank you for giving us a leader, President George W. Bush,” said Pastor Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, “that we believe you have placed sovereignly here for such a time as this.”

(Andrea James and Celeste Kennel-Shenk contributed to this report.)

MO/PH END ECKSTROM/BANKS

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