Saturday, January 22, 2005

THE PRESIDENT'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS had quite a lot of religious language in it, as is pointed out by Deborah Caldwell in her Beliefnet article "Decoding Bush's God-Talk" (via Helenann Hartley and Michael Pahl). I think a few of her annotations deserve annotations of their own. Her comments are in square brackets, referring to the bold-font selections in the speech.
America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this Earth has rights, and dignity and matchless value because they bear the image of the maker of heaven and Earth. [Elegant phrasing that resonates with Christians, Jews and Muslims.]

It's much more specific than that. This is a clear allusion to Genesis 1:26-27, which says that God made humanity in his own image.
You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, [This is a nod to evangelicals and conservative Catholics, have been united with the president in their disdain for moral relativism.] and courage triumphs.

I think that belief in the reality of evil has a wider constituency than that.
Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor [Vague reference to Jesus, who says in Matthew 22:39, "Love your neighbor as yourself."] and surround the lost with love.

This formulation of the golden rule, which indeed is also in the New Testament, actually originates in Leviticus 19:18. But I suspect a more immediate source for the President's comment is the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37. The last phrase in the sentence may also echo the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:3-7.
May God bless you, and may he watch over [Somewhat unexpected wording, again harkening to the "awesome God" of Calvin who is attentive to the world] the United States of America.

I don't see why this is "somewhat unexpected." It sounds like an echo of the benediction in Numbers 6:22-26 ("The Lord bless you and keep you...), important in both Judaism and Christianity (and, incidentally, the earliest-attested biblical passage).

Also, there's one possible religious allusion that Caldwell missed. It was caught by Lynn Sweet in an article on the speech in the Chicago Sun-Times:
Advancing self-government "is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time," said Bush, laying out a yardstick for which his tenure can be measured, not in four years, but over time.

"The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations," he said. "The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it."

In a speech laden with religious inferences, this line about not avoiding the work ahead seems an echo of an inspirational admonition from a Jewish text, the Pirkei Avot. Said an ancient rabbi, "It is not incumbent on you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it."

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