The frequent references by President Bush to the grace of God as the source of ultimate sanction for US policies has effectively rendered the world's most powerful country, for the time being at least, as a Christian theocracy. The division between church and state has been whittled away so that evangelical Protestantism, which has long vied with Enlightenment rationality for the heart, soul, and mind of America, has apparently prevailed. The sense of Manifest Destiny, which historically imbued the expansionist ethos of the United States with Christian purpose, has been renewed, this time with a vengeance on a truly global scale. The old Manifest Destiny of the United States has been absorbed into the Born Again evangelism inspiring the unbridled zealotry of the War on Terrorism. Both currents of conviction have and action have encouraged Americans to see themselves as God's Chosen People, assigned by the Creator to build a New Jerusalem on earth. (xxviii) The American Empire and the Fourth World (2003) |