Bush, Jesus and War on Terror -american Propagandizing by Means of Religious Rhetoric and Narration

Bush, Jesus and War on Terror -american Propagandizing by Means of Religious Rhetoric and Narration

Author: Mitra Naeimi

We and others; this categorization isn't new, we hear and read about American history that different kinds of contrasts have existed in America during the different periods ;sometimes related to internal affairs and sometimes external affairs.

Sometimes it has been a conflict between America - as a nation with a white dominance - and Indians, or between America - again I mean white Americans- and blacks.

As I said this conflict has had an external version too, it had been a conflict between America as a capitalist country and communism, and now there is another external struggle which is a complicated one, thus it can be explained in four ways:

1- A struggle between America as a non-Muslim country and
' Islam ' - Although some believe that America is in conflict with fundamentalist Islam but I believe it is with Islam overall as Bush administration supports Israel toward Palestinians and Lebanese and it is against Iran and Syria too.

2- On the other hand we can define this recent conflict as a conflict between America and ' Middle East' as Iraq war and threats of Bush and his administration against Iran and Syria prove.

3- Also we can explain it in this term that America is in conflict with 'Arabs'.

4- And even we can define it as a conflict between America and 'each country that without Bush's permission has nuclear activities', the thing that America call it weapons of mass destruction. Through this latter explanation I can remind the notion of ''axis of evil'' that George W Bush used for Iran, Iraq and North Korea.(1)

However each time that America has had a struggle, both internal or external, have used a special and specific rhetoric;

savage Indians those who have no culture,
blacks who are inferior than white,
helping some communist countries throughout the stages of economic growth with a modernization model - that causes Vietnam War,
and now considering last conflict, which is also a cue and intimation of this above cartoon, having a mission to help those humans that don't have freedom and democracy.
Therefore for justifying some illegal and inhuman actions such as Iraq war, the dominant rhetoric of George W Bush has been a religious rhetoric.
Thus I can clarify that Bush's rhetoric about war on terror has three main characteristics:

 sometimes he rationalizes the strategy of war on terror innocently with such statements:

"Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment .Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom -- the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time -- now depends on us...." (2)

The keywords of his speech here is this: "human freedom now depends on us".
Therefore one important aspect of Bush's rhetoric is related to power and this power is empire.
And as he focuses in Middle East, the main concentration of this empire is on Middle East too:
"We also hear doubts that democracy is a realistic goal for the greater Middle East, where freedom is rare[….]God has planted in every human heart the desire to live in freedom. And even when that desire is crushed by tyranny for decades, it will rise again. "(3)
 And as he makes clear in below speech ,the main characteristic of this empire is that it is based on a mission:
"America is a nation with a mission, and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace -- a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman. America acts in this cause with friends and allies at our side, yet we understand our special calling: This great republic will lead the cause of freedom." (4)
 And also the main characteristic of this mission is that it is the mission of America and her allies toward evils:
"our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil." (5)
This recent side of Bush 's rhetoric about war on terror after 9/11 completes with this sentences that Jesus Christ is the favorite political philosopher or thinker that Bush had identified himself with him in some speeches in the past.(6)
This rhetoric had been successful to such extent that has influenced broadly on some groups of Christians especially Evangelical Christians and other conservative Protestants as Richard Cizik who is vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals said:
"I sleep better at night knowing he is a man who isn't afraid to say he prays, [… ] I slept better at night during the recent war in Iraq, knowing that George Bush is in the White House." (7)
He also adds:
"I think the way a president, who is an evangelical, should respond to evil is characterized by how this president, George Bush, did. For example, at the National Cathedral Service of Remembrance for those who died in the Twin Towers attack, I think the president responded wonderfully, acting in a certain sense as presidents always have: as both prophet,[…], as priest. This president has responded similarly as sort of a priest who's comforting the nation […]in the attack on 9/11. That's an appropriate role for the president."
But in contrast to the followers of religious beliefs of Bush, there are those who believe Bush is an anti-Christ and they mostly use this above cartoon and similar ones. This cartoon is to criticize the figure of Bush that is under the false pretences. And it is to criticize his recent foreign policy that he believes he has a mission and a special calling.
The mission which causes nothing except war, loss of life and victims for the world. In fact this mission had been a military one, as he said that:
"This war on terror is the calling of a new generation; it is the calling of our generation. Success is essential to securing a future of peace for our children and grandchildren. And securing this peace for the future is going to require a sustained commitment from the American people and our military." (8)

However, putting all these analyses and interpretation of this cartoon aside, the main question is that what causes this ' cartoon making ' ?
According to imagology its reason is "the customer’s needs and desires".( Karvonen ,1997)
I don't mean that I like to encourage such cartoon makings or I 'm against it .I'd like only to say that audiences have realized that the religious rhetoric of Bush in his speeches about war on terror is not based on reality. They have found out that there is a long distance and huge difference between Jesus and Bush, and between their missions. There fore they have created this cartoon.


References:
(1)http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html
(2)http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/21/gen.president.speech/
(3) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html
(4) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html
(5) http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss/2002/nss3.html
(6) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec00/religion_9-1.html
(7)http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/interviews/cizik.html
(8) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-1.html

Karvonen ,Erkki. Imaglogy: Some Theories of the Public Image Presented, Analysed and Criticized ,1997, University of Tampere, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication cited in http://www.uta.fi/~tierka/vaisum.htm