More than Bush’s addresses laden with such offensive phrases as “God bless America,” Democrats are terrified of the openness with which Bush has been allowed to display his spiritual values. Faith has come to define the Bush presidency – a presidency that has endured through the atrocities of Sept. 11, heightened terror alerts, two military combat operations and one of the most tragic space shuttle crashes in aviation history.

Bush has found his guidance, he admits, by beginning his mornings reading a book of evangelical sermons. And he has led by bringing his faith with him when he steps to the podium.

It is without reservation that Bush tells the American people how he sees this war on terrorism, a battle between good and evil, a mission of God’s will. “The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,” Bush proclaimed in his 2003 State of the Union Address. “It is God's gift to humanity.” Radical left-wingers, who absurdly charge Bush as a war criminal, are seething, not only because Bush’s actions have led to the liberation of 18 million Iraqis and made the world a safer place for millions more people, but also because he has had the audacity to do it all in the name of God.

Accusations by liberals that Bush has used his faith to justify the war in Iraq are true. Their assertions, however, that Bush doesn’t have the right to do so are wrong. Is it really such an offense for the President to express his moral philosophies in order to distinguish his policies with meaning? Can’t our Commander-in-Chief call upon a Higher Being for guidance? And isn’t he allowed to share that guidance with the American public in an honest and wholly constitutional dialogue?

Bush’s so-called over-the-top religious fervor has been widely accepted from our past presidents. Lincoln to Roosevelt to Truman all invoked the guidance of faith when our country stood on the brink of war. Why the sudden opposition? Today, liberals are desperate to inflame the masses over Bush’s use of religion in an effort to create a climate where faith talking becomes taboo. America’s new thought police are out patrolling the streets for free speech violators who refuse to keep their ethical judgments to themselves. Their hope is to turn America into a society of religious barrenness.

The seculars’ assault on First Amendment rights is evident; their double standards and alternative motives are even more prominent. Suppose President Bush was to call for a holy jihad against corporate American business leaders, instead of the spread of liberty and freedom throughout the world? What then, would be the Left’s response? Would liberals tell the American people that they are just misunderstanding the anger? Would Democrats be trying to convince us that as Americans, coming from a Judeo-Christian background, we are uneducated and ignorant about Arabs and their faith?

The message is clear – Christianity offends. More importantly, Christianity that seeks to draw any sort of moral line in society is intolerable. If we are not allowed to condemn terrorist acts or murderous dictators then we are certainly not allowed to condem immoral lifestyle choices either. Take, for instance, the fury that was sparked when Republican Senator Rick Santorum recently exercised his rights of free speech and spoke out against such debauchery acts as bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery. Although Santorum was denouncing practices that are strongly objected to by the value standards of mainstream America, liberals, immediately assumed that Santorum was also reproving homosexuality. And maybe Santorum was. But doesn’t he at least have the right to say it? Shouldn’t we allow these moral issues to be bantered about in the public sphere rather than banning them from every podium and platform? We can only hope that the liberals’ assault of trying to soften the values of American culture doesn’t succeed. How scary would the future be if the Left’s dream of producing a next generation of godless leaders were to come true? In the meantime we can be thankful for our First Amendment rights. And for the leadership of a president who refuses to silence his faith.

Sports Editor Julie Gunderson is from Omaha, Neb. She majors in integrative studies.

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