Bush's Inaugural Address and the "Moral" Election

President Bush said in his inaugural address:

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.

Should our goal really be "to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way?" Should our money, our blood, our loved ones be spent so that others can do what they wish with the results? Should they be spent so that others can form Islamic states? Will this really result in the ending of "tyranny in our world?" The answer is emphatically "NO!" We will have only sent our loved ones to die so that we could help set up alternative tyrants. As Christians, our goal is to conform all peoples to the Word of God, not "to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way?"

The Moral Election
We have been told that this past election was won based on moral ideals, but what is the basis for America's (and the President's) present morality? The President says that "Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people." Are all of the "varied faiths of our people" equally true and valid? Again, the answer is emphatically "NO!"

The Christian's belief that Jesus is exactly who He said He is undeniably contradicts the claims of all other religions: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6 NASB). It is exactly this claim that enabled our Founding Fathers (and enables us) to be self-governed. True self-government can never exist without the saving power of Jesus, the Christ and the sactifying power of the Holy Spirit. (By the way ALL religions contradict each other in irreconcilable ways - it is impossible to have a country lead equally by all religious "truths").

R. J. Rushdoony had these wise words to say more than 5 years ago:

The new America taking shape around us is a very religious America, but its religion is humanism, not Christianity. It is a very morally minded America, but its ethics is the new morality, which for Christianity is simply the old sin. This new, revolutionary, humanistic America is also very missionary-minded. Humanism believes in salvation by works of law and, as a result, we are trying, as a nation, to save the world by law. By vast appropriations of money and dedicated labor, we are trying to save all nations and races, all men from all problems, in the hopes of creating a paradise on earth. We are trying to bring peace on earth and good will among men by acts of state and works of law, not by Jesus Christ. But St. Paul wrote, in Galatians 2:16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." (R.J. Rushdoony, Law & Liberty)