If you want to read a really crazy article, hop over to Robert Draper's article in GQ. It's all about how former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld acted as a modern day Rasputin by manipulating the adolescent emotions and exploiting the evangelical beliefs of George W. Bush.
Rasputin was a Russian mystic who curried favor with Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, by exploiting the superstitious beliefs of the royals. No one really thought a single, crazy religious nut could bring down an entire empire, and Rasputin's critics even derisively called him the "mad monk."
But Rasputin was highly influential in the decisions of the royals, and when he wasn't raping nuns, he was an official court official. Elements of Rasputin foreshadowed modern evangelicalism. He used to preach about sin, and repentance, though he was simultaneously a sex fiend and a drunk. Religious and a hypocrite? Shock! Horror!
Flash-forward to our own Donald Rumsfeld. In GQ's highly insightful article, Draper describes how Rumsfeld utilized some Rasputin-like techniques to manipulate Bush's more mystic beliefs. That includes delivering highly classified intelligence briefings to Bush that featured, "triumphant, color images from the previous days' war efforts" and "a quote...from the Bible, from the book of Psalms: "Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him...To deliver their soul from death."
Rumsfeld is a smart man, who is familiar with American history, so it wouldn't be fair to accuse him of a senior moment where that whole separation of church and state thing flew out of his head. This kind of play is more sinister, and something a master manipulator like Rasputin would find most appealing. This kind of tribal, religious exploitation started with Rumsputin, and extended through the military where senior military officers preached to soldiers about the benefits of Christianity.
While Rumsfeld certainly approved of the covers, which is why he never put the brakes on the project, they were not his creation. That credit goes to Major General Glen Shaffer, a director for intelligence serving both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of defense. He says he created the biblical quotes/War Kicks Ass combo package to boost moral when the war entered quagmire territory.
Some military officers may believe their proselytizing, but other officials surely used religious quotes and imagery to evoke tribal instincts in less sophisticated minds. Talking about an omnipotent stalker, who can send you to hell if you eat shellfish, is a powerful fear tactic, and a man like Rumsfeld, who has never been known to be a diehard Christian, was using a specific set of tools to appease his simple, God-fearing boss.
Perhaps this isn't groundbreaking news, but it's yet again a reminder of the importance of that thing called "separation of church and state." Keep your mystics to yourselves.
Cross-posted from Allison Kilkenny's blog. Also available on Facebook and Twitter.
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From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . . - washingtonpost.com
Rumsfeld's Pentagon Papers - By Fred Kaplan - Slate Magazine
It's not only that the religion is not shared by you is an exremely valid concern (eg., the Moslem members of DoD were not happy about the briefings). But if you share a religious belief with these folks, your religion can be deformed in support of the state (or in this case, Donald Rumsfeld). For example, from the GQ article:
__On March 31, a U.S. tank roared through the desert beneath a quote from Ephesians:
__“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may
__ be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
The scripture is specifically not talking about doing warfare with other people, but spiritual warfare and the armaments are not physical, but are: truth, righteousness, readiness for peace, faith, acceptance of our own neediness and brokenness (salvation), the word of God, and prayer. You may or may not agree with these as proper armaments, but what these were bear no resemblance to the cover picture mentioned above.
WTF were the former President and Secretary of Defense thinking? Why didn’t Bush have the common sense or highschool knowledge of Civics to remind Rumsey of a thing called Separation of Church and State. It boggles my legal mind b/c yes folks it violates the Lemon test(Separation of Church and State)—“government documents prepared by the Secretary of Defense, given to the President on a daily basis, with religious writings inscribed on them—in connection with the function of the Executive”—significant entanglement folks. Good God this situation could be a bar exam question on Constitutional law. If you want to hear more check me out on the Political Jaguar's Blog
http://polijag.wordpress.com/
If I was to pitch something to Bush, I'd go for messianic and apocalyptic images too, and include subliminal flashes of bottles of Jim Beam, and use crosses to mark bullet points.
When Machiavelli suggested that princes surround themselves with trusted counsel, and then made
decisions alone, it went without saying that the counsel should have the best interests of the kingdom at heart. I'm not sure that applies here.
Bush was by his own admission `the decider'. The buck stops there.
I am not a fundamentalist, nor has the AA program ever urged me to be one or to adhere to any religious doctrine. (It suggests we find a higher power, of our own definition (it could be a doorknob if we so choose). AA has no service, priests, formal leaders, creed or dogma).
I am adamantly for separation of state and religion, pro choice, pro birth control, anti "creationism,." against ramming religion down folk's throats, against wars in the name of Jesus and have never been reproached for any of these stances in AA.
But her basic argument? For disquieting evidence of a crusade, see Jeff Sharlet's "Jesus Killed Mohammed" in a recent Harpers. It's a serious piece of journalism, extremely well-researched, and it's scary as hell.
Or it is for lovers of democracy.
Why would Major General Shaffer and others allow those translated bibles to be handed out by US soldiers knowing that it would inflame the Muslims and lead them to believe that we were reenacting the Crusades if they did not believe that they were acting on their version of God over their duties to the US government and the Constitution?
There is a high degree of crusading going on in our US military that violates the separation of church and state that needs to end. Military leaders answer to our elected leaders not church elders. That is why the MRFF has been filing lawsuits against the Pentagon to bring to light the rampant evangelicalism by many of our current military leaders.
It was dangerous and irresponsible for Major General Shaffer to allow those quotes to be used since it will be interpreted by many people that the US started this war for religious reasons as well as for oil. It puts our soldiers at additional risk for religious reasons not reasons of security of the United States.
All one has to do is listen to the rhetoric from all the Republicans making speeches like only God will destroy the earth or cow f**ts cause global warming just to name a few. Then add to this the right wing talking heads like Limbaugh, Dobbs, Hannity and O'Reilly to see what the future will bring to the U.S. and the rest of the world.
www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-goff/mcchrystal-pelosi_b_204211.html
"Perhaps this isn't groundbreaking news (either), but it's yet again a reminder of the importance of that thing called "separation of church and state." Keep your mystics to yourselves."
What is happening today, in the appointment of General McChrystal to the military leadership in Afghanistan, does lead one to wonder just who are the fundamentalist religous terrorists in the modern world.
If we really want to see the enemy, maybe we should look into a mirror.