12/06/2004|||110234413828860547||||||

AMERICANS AND THE G-WORD

Max Hastings, a Bush-basher and self-styled "social Anglican" wishes Americans weren't so damned religious:

"A week in the United States, such as I have just spent, is enough to make anybody feel a trifle fed up with God, or rather with the relentless invocation of the deity by American politicians, led by their president. No public occasion would be complete without the blessing of the Almighty being besought for whatever endeavour tops the agenda, most prominently the war in Iraq."

I'm not quite sure what a social Anglican is, to be honest. I also don't know what kind of "accommodation" Hastings has in mind when he talks about Islamic fundamentalists:

"The west may find that the struggle against militant Islam is an inescapable challenge of the 21st century, extending far more widely than the present engagement with a few thousand fanatics. Most of us wish to explore every avenue of accommodation before reconciling ourselves to armed conflict. Yet we now face another four years at the mercy of a US president who perceives his own God as foremost among White House advisers and regards the contest with Islam as already begun."

And when did George Bush declare war on Islam? (If you're about to mention that tired old "crusaders" gaffe, please don't bother.) As I said before, I love Hastings' military histories. It's the op-eds that bother me.

|||Clive|||http://clivedavis.blogspot.com/2004/12/americans-and-g-word-max-hastings-bush.html|||12/06/2004 02:30:00 pm|||||||||

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