Reflecting on Bush’s dubious theology that freedom is God’s gift to mankind, and the US is divinely-ordained to spread “freedom”, Ross Douthat had the following to say:
“The gift of freedom that Christ promises is far more real than anything else in this world, if Christian teaching on the matter is correct. On the other hand, there’s nothing that’s political about that promise, and the attempt to transform God’s promise of freedom through Jesus Christ into a this-world promise of universal democracy is the worst kind of “immanentizing the eschaton” utopian [redacted]. It’s Hegel meets Woodrow Wilson meets James Kurth’s “Protestant Deformation” meets the American heresy, and Christians and conservatives alike ought to be appalled by it.”
Of course, he’s absolutely correct. As I noted before, Americans tend to fuse Christianity with an invented civic religion, and more often than not, the underlying theology is derivative Calvinism. These attitudes are so entrenched in the US that even many Catholics view them as second nature. The zeal for unfettered markets is a direct result a Protestant-inspired individualism that disdains all notion of hierarchy and community. The notion that America has a special role in the world flows from Calvinist ideas of predestination and the elect. Stretching all the way back to the Puritans (embodied by Withrop’s city-on-a-hill speech), this mentality spanned the generations, guiding Woodrow Wilson, John Foster Dulles, and George Bush. Its current manifestation, of course, has been disastrous, and we will suffer the consequences for years.
This is all well known. What is not often drawn out is the religious aspect, so misunderstood in secular circles. While frequently touted as a religious man, the kind of Christianity that Bush puts into practice is deformed and depraved. Yes, it is heretical. We should not shy away from this word, but shout it from the roof tops!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In