The Author of Liberty: Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy

Abstract

As the U.S. occupation of Iraq dragged on, George W. Bush declared in April 2004 that the United States is "the greatest power on the face of the earth," and that "we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom. . . . That is what we have been called to do, as far as I'm concerned." In his inaugural address in January this year, Bush declared that the United States had been given a "mission" by the "Maker of Heaven" and "Author of Liberty" to spread freedom and democracy. And in May, Bush again asserted that encouraging "freedom's advance" is the "calling of our time. And America will do its duty."

Legitimizing the “War on Terror”: Political Myth in Official-Level Rhetoric

“…The myth of American Exceptionalism details America's ideal image of its place in the world. It consists of three main ideas: America is a “chosen nation,” America has a “calling” or “mission,” and, in answering that calling, America represents the forces of good against evil (Judis, 2005). The myth of American Exceptionalism is grounded in the Protestant millennialism brought to America by the English Puritans, who believed the battle of Armageddon foretold in the Book of Revelation was to take place in America (Judis, 2005).…”

“…It consists of three main ideas: America is a “chosen nation,” America has a “calling” or “mission,” and, in answering that calling, America represents the forces of good against evil (Judis, 2005). The myth of American Exceptionalism is grounded in the Protestant millennialism brought to America by the English Puritans, who believed the battle of Armageddon foretold in the Book of Revelation was to take place in America (Judis, 2005). In the late eighteenth century, the myth evolved from a biblical vision of the “New Jerusalem” to a nationalist vision of America as a God‐given land destined for greatness and triumph.…”

“…In the late eighteenth century, the myth evolved from a biblical vision of the “New Jerusalem” to a nationalist vision of America as a God‐given land destined for greatness and triumph. Americans have approached grand objectives—from independence to seizing Texas and Mexico to the World Wars to the Cold War to the first Gulf War to the “War on Terror”—with an outlook reminiscent of seventeenth‐century Protestant millennialism (Judis, 2005). This religious‐turned‐nationalist mentality can be considered “apocalyptic” in that it has portrayed America transforming itself and the world in cataclysmic leaps and bounds rather than through subtle, incremental changes (Judis, 2005).…”

“…For Abraham Lincoln, America was the “last, best hope of the earth”; for Madeline Albright, it is “the indispensable nation”; and for George W. Bush, it has “a unique role in human events” (qtd. in Judis, 2005, p. 55).…”

“…However, the underlying sense of duty and divine sanction endures to the present. Many presidents, including John Adams, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan, attributed America's role in the world to “Providence” or “Destiny”; and many spoke of a “mission” or “calling” to “further freedom's triumph” (Judis, 2005). Richard Nixon proclaimed that America had “come into the world 180 years ago not just to have freedom to ourselves, but to carry it to the whole world,” while Ronald Reagan saw Americans as “one people, under God, dedicated to the dream of freedom that He has placed in the human heart, called upon now to pass that dream on to a waiting and hopeful world” (qtd.…”