The below excerpt from the following article, where President Bush addressed Evangelical groups on National Prayer Day was quite surprising to me. It’s appears to be a major departure from some of his previous rhetoric. In fact, the article itself points to how this is fairly out of character. I must say that in a vacuum, devoid of the context of this administration, I very much like this quote. For me, it seems to hearken back to the Idea of America, which I love so much. I understand that people have different views of what Justice is, but nevertheless, I wish I could believe that this quote was representative of how we are going to direct foreign policy going forward. Worthy of note is that he made this address immediately after a public apology about Iraq. Also worthy of note is that some religious figures, including a Roman Catholic bishop and the president of a major evangelical Christian seminary, accused the organizers of the broadcast and the White House of using prayer for political purposes.
“God is not on the side of any nation, yet we know he is on the side of justice,” Mr. Bush said. “And it is the deepest strength of America that from the hour of our founding, we have chosen justice as our goal.” He added: “Our greatest failures as a nation have come when we lost sight of that goal: in slavery, in segregation, and in every wrong that has denied the value and dignity of life. Our finest moments have come when we have faithfully served the cause of justice for our own citizens, and for the people of other lands.”