Who's with President Bush?

President Bush has characterized the choice to be made in this war on terror: "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." The stark clarity of this binary decision has served the United States well in marshaling a large number of nations in the fight against al Qaeda and a smaller, but still ample, number for the next phase of this war: the liberation of Iraq.

Regrettably, in the months since September 11, 2001, people who have made no secret of their sympathy for terrorists, provided them financial support, excused their murderous attacks and/or sought to impede the prosecution of the war against them have repeatedly been put in the company of the President. In other words, individuals and organizations who appear to be "with the terrorists" have time and again been allowed to be with the President in the White House and elsewhere.

For example: o On September 20, 2001 -- just nine days after the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- Shaykh Hamza Yusuf was the Muslim representative in a small ecumenical gathering held in the Oval Office.

At the same time, FBI agents were trying to interview him at his house in California since he had declared two days before the attack: "This country is facing a terrible fate....This country stands condemned. It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did -- and lest people forget that Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands." His wife told the incredulous agents Yusuf wasn't home, he was with the President. o Six days later, President Bush met in the Roosevelt Room with a Muslim imam by the name of Muzammil H. Siddiqi. Siddiqi is a long-time board member of several organizations in the United States funded by, and closely tied to, Saudi Arabia's radical state religion known as Wahhabism. Two of these groups, including one where Siddiqi still sits on the board, were raided in March 2002 by Federal authorities in pursuit of terrorist financing.

This presidential meeting was all the more puzzling since the imam had shown his true colors by claiming, at a rally the previous October: "America has to learn...If you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come.

Please, all Americans. Do you remember that? Allah is watching everyone. God is watching everyone. If you continue doing injustice, and tolerate injustice, the wrath of God will come." o On September 17, 2001, President Bush paid a visit to the mosque in Washington. There he was photographed flanked by Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR has long been an admirer and public defender of terrorist organizations whose attacks against even innocent women and children it sees as legitimate acts of "liberation." Awad has personally declared, "I am a supporter of the Hamas movement." o Also in the picture with President Bush at the mosque was Khaled Saffuri, currently chairman of an organization called the Islamic Institute, which he co-founded with conservative activist Grover Norquist.

Saffuri previously served as the development director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization when it made no bones about using terrorism for political purposes. He went on to become deputy director of the radical American Muslim Council (AMC), under then-director Abduraman Alamoudi -- a publicly declared supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, whose statements of solidarity with these groups prompted the Bush 2000 campaign to return his contributions. Under Saffuri's leadership, the Islamic Institute has attacked the Bush Administration's investigations of radical Muslim groups and closures of organizations suspected of funding terrorists.

The Institute has been funded by groups raided in the above-mentioned terrorist financing investigations. It lobbied intensively against portions of the USA Patriot Act. And Saffuri has personally denounced the President's listing of the Holy Land Foundation as a charity that supported terrorist organizations. He has acknowledged sponsoring the children of suicide bombers through the Foundation, even after its closure by the government.

In addition to the President, a number of his senior subordinates -- including Cabinet officers -- have met, in some cases more than once, with members of the aforementioned and other organizations with troubling attitudes towards jihadist terrorists. A particularly bizarre instance was FBI Director Robert Mueller’s keynote address last year to the American Muslim Council.

The AMC has a long record of activities hostile to the Bush Administration’s prosecution of the war on terror. It has even urged Muslims not to cooperate with the FBI! Nonetheless, according to a press release dated last Thursday, Mr. Mueller has invited the AMC’s chairman, Dr. Yahya Mossa Basha, to attend an upcoming meeting with him and “leaders of major Muslim and Arab-American organizations.”

It is very much in the President's interest -- and the Nation's -- that moderate, law-abiding, peace-loving and patriotic American Muslims be embraced and empowered by the Bush Administration and all those who support it in waging a war on terror, not on Islam.

To do so, however, the Administration must not allow those who are “with” its enemies in that struggle to continue being with the President and his team.

Bush 'Worship' at Shinto Temple Troubles Christians in Japan and U.S.
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

ORANGE, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- When President Bush entered the ornately beautiful Shinto Temple erected to house the spirits of the late Emperor Meiji he clapped once and bowed deeply, following the common etiquette of worship at such shrines. At the same time, the Prime Minister of Japan was left sitting in the car—forbidden from entering the shrine by a postwar constitution written by the U.S.

“The Prime Minister of Japan is forbidden by their constitution from even participating in the Shinto religion because it’s emperor worship that led to World War II,” says Dr. Robert Morey, author of over 40 books dealing with false religions, cults and philosophies, and founder of the California Institute of Apologetics.

“So the Prime Minister stayed in the limo while Bush and his wife went into the temple and clapped to awaken the demon and then bowed in worship and signed the book of worship,” says Dr. Morey, referring to the Bush temple visit made February 18 as part of his Asia tour.

Emperor Meiji ruled Japan from 1850-1914, during its transformation from feudalism to modernity. He set Japan on a course toward World War II by promoting a revitalized Shintoism that favored emperor worship and the removal of foreign influences from Japan.

“It was an act of idolatry,” says Kiyomasa Akashi, with Logos Ministries in Tokyo. “Even worse, it was an official, public idol worship,” Akashi says. “He did bow before the shrine where the Meiji Emperor is enshrined as a god.”

Sadly, many Japanese and Korean Christians were severely persecuted because they refused to participate in Shinto rituals, which involved bowing down and worshipping the emperor and other false gods. “Japanese Christians are furious,” Dr. Morey says. “They were killed because they wouldn’t bow before the image of the emperor,” he says.

“Korean Christians had their hands chopped off because they wouldn’t bow and worship the emperor,” he adds. Korea was ruled as a colony of Japan between 1910-1945. “Their descendants see the Bushes making a mockery of those who, like Daniel and his three friends, refused to bow before a heathen idol.”

For the most part, American Christians who admire President Bush hope and believe he acted innocently, out of respect for local customs and traditions. But Japanese Christian leaders do not take it lightly. “According to the Shinto ritual, clapping hands and bows are the set of Shinto style of worship,” says Rev. Isaac Ishiguro, of the historic Mino Mission in Japan. “In Japan all the media reported, ‘Bush Sanpaied at Meiji shrine.’” he says. “The verb ‘Sanpai’ in Japanese means, san—visit or go, and pai—worship.”

The Japanese news media clearly reported Bush’s ‘worship,’ in direct contrast to Prime Minister Koizumi’s restraint. Before Bush left he signed a special book—which appears to be more than just a registry. “If you sign the book, it means you actually did worship the god, not simply visit the site,” says Akashi. “The record remains in the shrine for a long period of time.”

Some see Shintoism as a quaint cultural tradition, but others disagree. “Shinto has existed for a long time of history,” says Akashi, “but it’s not a culture nor tradition of the Japanese people—it’s a religion and a cult.”

“Because of an ultra-long recession of the Japanese economy, the government is swiftly reviving the old Shinto nationalism in order to gain national pride,” Akashi adds. “Kids in public elementary and high schools as well as teachers are now being forced to sing Kimigayo (“Praise Song of the Emperor”) and salute the Hinomaru flag (to the sun goddess Amateratsu) at graduation ceremonies.”

“Christian leaders and missionaries in Japan sent letters of warning and petition to the White House and the U. S. Embassy,” says Akashi, which apparently were unheeded. The White House declined to comment on this story. A State Department official said President Bush merely went to pay his respects and that he "was not involved in any religious activities, ceremonies or rites." The official noted that Presidents Carter and Reagan visited the same shrine.

In the aftermath of September 11, amid Bush’s efforts to show respect for other faiths—particularly Islam, some see a drift toward universalism, which denies the exclusiveness of Christianity. Another example was Bush’s mosque visit immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center.

“He used the code word when he went to worship in the mosque,” Dr. Morey says. “He said, ‘I worship with you the universal God.’”

Many believers would find it difficult to believe President Bush is drifting into universalism, which blurs the distinction between the God of the Bible and the Allah of Islam. In universalism, “All the gods of all the religions are masks on Popsicle sticks that he puts in front of his face,” Dr. Morey says. “So it doesn’t matter if you’re worshipping Shiva with the Hindus or Jehovah with the Jews or Jesus or Allah.”

“Since the 1970s, the locus of universalism has been the plurality of religions,” according to Donald Dunavant, Ph.D., with the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. “All exclusive language, in which truth claims are asserted about the uniqueness of Christ…is regarded as arrogant and divisive in relationship to other faiths,” he adds. “Universalism promotes dialogue with other faiths that both acknowledges their legitimacy and affirms that love embraces all peoples of all times.”

Such thinking seems to dominate popular culture. “The politically correct people are in charge of the public school systems, the universities, and the media,” Dr. Morey says. “They have brainwashed President Bush to believe all religions worship the same universal God.”

“That’s why he has no difficulty worshipping in a mosque with the Muslims or in a Shinto temple in Japan,” Dr Morey adds. Many believers will hope Dr. Morey’s concerns and the fears of Japanese Christians are unfounded, as President Bush continues to live out his Christian faith in a pluralistic society.

http://www.worthynews.com/news-features-3/bush-shinto-temple.html

I was never a believer in conspiracies until a couple of weeks ago. It was early in the night/morning, and I was half dreaming/half thinking about what seemed to be a thousand things at once--the war, the future, my future, immigration, the UN, China, etc. and all of a sudden, I jumped up.

I couldn't believe it, (I didn't want to believe it) but I came to the conclusion that there was a clear, concerted effort to undermine our country's dominance, sovereignty, and security.

And in all of those instances (or categories) George W. Bush is inexplicably opposed to what I think would the correct course of action.
1.)He refuses a temporary immigration moratorium , even for terrorist nations.
2.)He calls islam a "peaceful religion" while hobnobbing with muslim terrorists
3.)He is letting illegal immigration flood the country with an incalculable number of a.)terrorists b.)foreign nationals with no alegiance to America c.)moochers looking to take advantage of our stupidity d.) diseased castaways,etc.
4.)The "New Tone" (or as I like to say: "El Tono Nuevo') is advancing the destructive Democrat agenda faster than klinton did.

99.9% of non-programmed Freepers would handle the above situations (and there are more, but I'm too tired to list them) like I would--differently than W. These solutions seem like absolute no brainers! Especially in a post Sept. 11th context.

This begs the question: Is W. 1.) Smarter than all of us? 2.)completely clueless? 2.) incompetent? 3.)too trustworthy and/or naive? Or 4.)doing EXACTLY as he is told, and merely "playing his part"? I don't want to say what I really think, but I may just have.

President Bush on Feb. 10 told a national gathering of religious broadcasters in Nashville, Tenn., that white suburban churches have an "obligation" to help their black urban counterparts.

"It has been said that 11 a.m. on Sunday is the most segregated hour in America," Mr. Bush said. "Suburban churches are often just a short drive away from brothers and sisters who are facing great need and doing God's work.

"There is an opportunity here to end artificial divisions and join together in fellowship and service," he added. "There's also an obligation."

The remarks were the latest in a series of increasingly religious speeches by the president as he moves closer to war with Iraq, which could begin as soon as this month.

The growing emphasis on religious discourse has gone largely unchallenged by Democrats and the press. That is a major change from a few years ago, when Mr. Bush was widely criticized for mentioning Jesus Christ as his favorite philosopher in a debate during the presidential campaign.

Although Mr. Bush is a born-again Christian who has been deeply religious for years, the president has been framing the conflict in increasingly religious terms as war with Iraq has looked increasingly imminent in recent days.

"In this hour of our country's history, we stand in the need of prayer," he said on Feb. 6 at the National Prayer Breakfast. "We pray for wisdom to know and do what is right."

Mr. Bush worked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice into the prayer program, noting that her father was a minister. He even made a religious reference to CIA Director George J. Tenet and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman -- both of whom also participated in the breakfast.

"It is fitting that in the midst of tough times that these two leaders are sharing with Scripture and prayer with the country," the president remarked.

The religious references are aimed in part at countering anti-war messages from groups affiliated with organized religions. A coalition of such groups, known as Win Without War, recently produced a TV ad saying war against Iraq "violates God's law and the teachings of Jesus Christ."

The coalition's director, former Democratic Rep. Tom Andrews, had those words uttered by a bishop from the Methodist Church to which Mr. Bush belongs. Win Without War has also produced an ad, echoing the famous 1964 "Daisy" commercial, suggesting that the president's policy in Iraq would lead to nuclear war.

"There are many people in a variety of religions who are going to have different thoughts about how to keep the peace and whether or not to go to war with Saddam Hussein," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said. "The president will respect their thoughts, and he will act as he sees fit as commander in chief to protect the country."

A reporter asked Mr. Fleischer how the president reconciles "his militarism with Jesus' pacifism."

"The decisions that the president makes about war and peace and about whether or not force needs to be used in Iraq are based on the president's judgments as a secular leader about what is necessary to protect this country," Mr. Fleischer said.

"The president is a deeply religious man," he added. "But these are decisions that the president will make based on intelligence reports, based on information that he is aware of on how to protect our country from potential attack."

Yet Mr. Bush has publicly made no distinction between his secular and religious sides. If anything, he presents them as one and the same.

"The comment I hear the most from our fellow citizens, regardless of their political party or philosophy, is: Mr. President, I pray for you and your family," he said at the prayer breakfast. "I turn to them without hesitation and say: It is the greatest gift you can give anybody, is to pray on their behalf.

"I especially feel that because I believe in prayer," he added. "I pray. I pray for strength. I pray for guidance. I pray for forgiveness. And I pray to offer my thanks for a kind and generous almighty God."

http://www.americasnewspaper.com/bottom.shtml

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