Bush Highlights His Christian Values
Episcopal News Service. February 7, 1992 [92036A]
President George Bush told a gathering of religious broadcasters that Christian values undergird many of his political decisions. Addressing the annual gathering of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), an association of evangelical Christian television and radio station officials, Bush expressed his appreciation of their support for the "just war" against Iraq. "I want to thank you for helping America, as Christ ordained, to be a light unto the world," the president said. Bush, an Episcopalian, told the NRB that he remains committed to a constitutional amendment that would allow "nondenominational voluntary" prayer in public schools. He also affirmed his support for an antiabortion amendment by saying, "I will stand on the side of choosing life." Bush's comments, which came on the eve of his State of the Union Message, prompted anger among many non-Christians. A representative of the American Jewish Congress decried Bush's inference that America is a Christian country. Mohammed T. Mehdi, secretary general of the New York-based National Council on Islamic Affairs, added that Bush's remarks fueled "the belief in the Muslim world that last year's war on Iraq was another Crusade by Christians against Islam."