from http://www.beliefnet.com

Decoding Bush's God-Talk
Beliefnet provides an annotated guide to the president's inaugural
speech.

President Bush delivered his second inaugural address Thursday after
being sworn in for a second term. This is a transcript of his remarks,
with annotations by Beliefnet senior editor Deborah Caldwell, who
examines the speech's "God-talk."

Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President
Bush, President Clinton, members of the United States Congress,
reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:

On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the
durable wisdom of our Constitution and recall the deep commitments that
unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of
the consequential times in which we live and determined to fulfill the
oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.

At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I
use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half-century,
America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders.
After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of
repose, years of sabbatical-and then there came a day of fire. [This
phrase contains three religious allusions. The first is reminiscent of
Hebrew Bible language, which refers throughout to Judgment Day as a day
of fire; the second allusion is to the New Testament Book of
Revelation, which also refers to Judgment Day as a day of fire; the
third reference is to the story of Pentecost, found in the New
Testament Book of Acts, in which the Holy Spirit descends to earth as
wind and fire. In addition, "Day of Fire" is the name of an
up-and-coming Christian rock band.]

We have seen our vulnerability, and we have seen its deepest source.
For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and
tyranny-prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse
murder-violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and
cross the most defended borders and raise a mortal threat.

There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred
and resentment and expose the pretensions of tyrants and reward the
hopes of the decent and tolerant. And that is the force of human
freedom.

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival
of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty
in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion
of freedom in all the world.

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.]

Across the generations, we have proclaimed the imperative of
self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one
deserves to be a slave. [This is a reference to the Apostle Paul,
writing in Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are
all one in Christ Jesus.]

Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our nation. It is
the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent
requirement of our nation's security and the calling of our time.

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.

The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of
generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it.
America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the
oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it
confidently in freedom's cause.

My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people from
further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test
America's resolve and have found it firm.

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every
nation -- the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong,
and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that
jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome
humiliation and servitude or that any human being aspires to live at
the mercy of bullies.

We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that
success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own
people. America's belief in human dignity [Resonant among Catholics
because Pope John Paul II uses it often when opposing abortion,
euthanasia, and poverty] will guide our policies. Yet, rights must be
more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by
free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run,
there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights
without human liberty.

Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty-though
this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of
freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people,
should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the
call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept
the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the
possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love
it.

Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:

All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States
will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you
stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.

Democratic reformers facing repression, prison or exile can know:
America sees you for who you are-the future leaders of your free
country.

The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham
Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for
themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."

The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To
serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey
of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.

And all the allies of the United States can know: We honor your
friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help.
Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. The
concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to
our enemies' defeat.

Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:

>From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing
America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has
accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be
dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great
liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved
their freedom.

And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts,
we have lit a fire as well-a fire in the minds of men. It warms those
who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day
this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our
world.

A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause -- in
the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of
helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work
of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country
in deaths that honored their whole lives, and we will always honor
their names and their sacrifice.

All Americans have witnessed this idealism and some for the first time.
I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You
have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers.
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.
Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than
yourself, and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our
country but to its character.

America has need of idealism and courage because we have essential work
at home-the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving
toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of
liberty.

In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security
of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of
subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated
the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act and the GI Bill of Rights.
And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to
serve the needs of our time.

To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our
country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools and build
an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and
businesses, retirement savings and health insurance-preparing our
people for the challenges of life in a free society.

By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will
give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear and make
our society more prosperous and just and equal.

In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private
character-on integrity and tolerance toward others and the rule of
conscience in our own lives. [This is a way to show his religious
tolerance and pluralism, particularly to seculars, as well as liberal
Christians and Jews.] 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, [These words will please evangelicals,
particularly activists such as Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the
Family.] 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. [Here, the president moves seamlessly to liberal God-talk
that will soothe moderate Americans and will thrill the nation's
Muslims, who say they've been betrayed by the Bush Administration's
Patriot Act.] Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming
all that is good and true that came before -- ideals of justice and
conduct that are the same yesterday, today and forever.

In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by
service and mercy and a heart for the weak. [Resonant with Catholics,
who hear these words in liturgies, prayers and official writing]
Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. 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.

Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another and must
always remember that even the unwanted have worth. [Resonant with
pro-life Christians.] And our country must abandon all the habits of
racism because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage
of bigotry at the same time.

>From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication,
[Resonant for most religious folks. For example: Protestants who hold
"dedication" ceremonies for their newborns; Mormons who use the term
when they "dedicate" new temples; Christians and Jews who understand
the term to mean "sabbath" and who also use the phrase when
"dedicating" new churches and synagogues; and Buddhists who use the
term to describe specific holy days] the issues and questions before
our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions
that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the
cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?

These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every
party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to
one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which
must be healed to move forward in great purposes -- and I will strive
in good faith to heal them.

Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and
fellowship [Well-worn Protestant word, often used to describe Sunday
coffee hours and the general feeling of community Christians have when
they are together] of our nation when freedom came under attack, and
our response came like a single hand over a single heart. And we can
feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the
victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice,
and the captives are set free. [This one is loaded with meaning. The
main meaning comes from the Bible, where it appears in Isaiah 61, and
then again when Jesus declares in Luke 4 that God has sent him to "set
the captives free." But evangelicals also use the term to refer to what
they call spiritual warfare, meaning the war between Christians and the
devil. They also use this term to refer to setting people free from
homouality and from addiction to graphy. It is also used in
reference to people who aren't Christian, who need to be "set free"
from their current beliefs. In addition, it resonates among Jews
thinking about Passover. And the phrase is a nod to the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr., who often used words like this in his speeches.]

We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of
freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is
human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a
chosen nation; [Here, the president responds to particular criticism
from moderates, who've been alarmed by conservative Christians who have
been saying that America is a special country, a "chosen nation" akin
to the Biblical Israel.] God moves and chooses as he wills. [Nice
rhetorical switch. This phrase explains what more mainstream (but still
conservative) evangelicals believe--that God is omnipotent, omniscient,
and in control of all things. This idea harkens to the theology of John
Calvin, whose theology centering on "the sovereignty of God" has gained
renewed popularity among evangelicals. Click here for Deborah
Caldwell's 2002 article about George Bush's religious rhetoric.]

We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind,
the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. [Poetic language
that resonate well with religious people because these are universally
accepted spiritual words] When our Founders declared a new order of the
ages, when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on
liberty, when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner
"Freedom Now" -- they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to
be fulfilled.

History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible
direction set by liberty and the author of liberty. [More Calvinist
language]

When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the
Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if
it meant something." In our time it means something still.

America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the
world and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our
strength-tested, but not weary-we are ready for the greatest
achievements in the history of freedom.

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.

From:	Roedy Green
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:42:52 GMT

On 23 Jan 2005 08:33:22 -0800, stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote or quoted
:

>the
>Sermon on the Mount,

What a joke! The Bush presidency is about spitting on and dancing upon
every last verse in the Sermon on the Mount.

Tax the poor, give to the rich.
Attack without provocation.
Have no mercy.
Lie.
Cheat.
Steal.

Bush has kiddie anal rape videos made at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040717-082858-3675r.htm
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
See http://mindprod.com/iraq.html photos of Bush's war crimes

From:	Roedy Green
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:40:52 GMT

On 23 Jan 2005 08:33:22 -0800, stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote or quoted
:

>You
>have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers.

But these soldiers are like Nazis fighting a patently illegal war of
aggression. Further they are violating the Geneva conventions. Further
they are committing atrocities and torture. And finally some of them
are raping Iraqi boys for their pleasure and the video pleasure of Mr.
Bush and cronies.

"Just following orders" is NOT a moral excuse, nor a legal one.

Bush has kiddie anal rape videos made at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040717-082858-3675r.htm
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
See http://mindprod.com/iraq.html photos of Bush's war crimes

From:	Lady Chatterly
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 10:00:18 GMT

In article <0dd8v0djb65i52vo0out8v9o19ddd6d3l9@4ax.com>
Roedy Green wrote:
>
>On 23 Jan 2005 08:33:22 -0800, stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote or quoted
>:
>
>>You
>>have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers.
>
>But these soldiers are like Nazis fighting a patently illegal war of
>aggression. Further they are violating the Geneva conventions. Further
>they are committing atrocities and torture. And finally some of them
>are raping Iraqi boys for their pleasure and the video pleasure of Mr.
>Bush and cronies.

L'ouest this second p?tion

>"Just following orders" is NOT a moral excuse, nor a legal one.

Scientology is expanding.

--
Lady Chatterly

"Er, wait, I didn't realize what this Lady Chatterly was until reading
the other posts. Wackiness ensues." -- Julie d'Aubigny

From:	Roedy Green
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:36:30 GMT

On 23 Jan 2005 08:33:22 -0800, stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote or quoted
:

>because they
>bear the image of the maker of heaven and Earth. [Elegant phrasing that
>resonates with Christians, Jews and Muslims.]

Perhaps Christians and Jews. But Muslims are quite adamant that God is
not some man on a cloud with a white beard who stares at children's
genitals. [Louise Hay]. He is beyond imagining.

Bush has kiddie anal rape videos made at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040717-082858-3675r.htm
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
See http://mindprod.com/iraq.html photos of Bush's war crimes

From:	Lady Chatterly
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 8:23:54 GMT

In article
Roedy Green wrote:
>
>Perhaps Christians and Jews. But Muslims are quite adamant that God is
>not some man on a cloud with a white beard who stares at children's
>genitals. [Louise Hay]. He is beyond imagining.

Lots and lots more tin foil hat member said it better than 90 percent
of what my father in law around.

--
Lady Chatterly

"Is this a bot or a person pretending to be a bot?" -- Nihilist

From:	Roedy Green
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:44:03 GMT

On 23 Jan 2005 08:33:22 -0800, stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote or quoted
:

>Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another and must
>always remember that even the unwanted have worth.

Unless of course they are Iraqi. You can get the true meaning of his
speech by inverting every sentence.

Bush has kiddie anal rape videos made at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040717-082858-3675r.htm
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
See http://mindprod.com/iraq.html photos of Bush's war crimes

From:	Lady Chatterly
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 8:47:31 GMT

In article
Roedy Green wrote:
>
>On 23 Jan 2005 08:33:22 -0800, stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote or quoted
>:
>
>>Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another and must
>>always remember that even the unwanted have worth.
>
>Unless of course they are Iraqi. You can get the true meaning of his
>speech by inverting every sentence.

Oh and when did you enjoy tormenting around the net for accuracy.

--
Lady Chatterly

"Oh, hep me. Lady Chatterly's trying to flame me. aaaaah." --
Starshine Moonbeam

From:	Roedy Green
Subject:	Re: Bible code in Bush's speech
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:38:27 GMT

On 23 Jan 2005 08:33:22 -0800, stevejdufour@yahoo.com wrote or quoted
:

>Across the generations, we have proclaimed the imperative of
>self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one
>deserves to be a slave

This is in direct opposition to neocon principles that say only
America is fit to rule the world, and it does not require permission
from anyone else to do so. No others are even to be permitted to
pursue their LEGITIMATE interests.

He is just putting out a big cloud of ink to cover what he really IS.

Bush has kiddie anal rape videos made at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040717-082858-3675r.htm
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
See http://mindprod.com/iraq.html photos of Bush's war crimes