Bible verses were used on cover sheets for intelligence reports written for Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and other Pentagon officials, according to GQ magazine.

One of the cover sheets features a photo of a tank in the sunset inlaid with Ephesians 6:13: “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.”

A "World Intelligence Update" included Proverbs 16:3: "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" above a picture of a machine-gunner.

Lawrence Di Rita, former Pentagon spokesman, told David Sanger of The New York Times that he had no recollection of the briefs, and that the secretary would not have tolerated them for long.

“The suggestion that Rumsfeld would have used these reports to somehow curry favor over at the White House is pretty laughable,” Di Rita told Sanger. “He bristled anytime people put quotes or something extraneous on the reports he wanted to read.”

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at May 17, 2009 | Comments (18)

Religious leaders hailed President Bush's signing of a bill that continues U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking across the globe.

In an Oval Office ceremony on Tuesday, Bush signed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.

"This is a piece of legislation we're very proud to sign and to see that it's authorizing funding for fiscal years ... 2008 through 2011," White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto told reporters before the signing ceremony. "And this program has been very effective around the world in trying to stop trafficking in persons in Africa and Asia."

The law aims to prevent and prosecute trafficking of humans in foreign countries and assist its victims.

"This bill will significantly assist the United States government in impeding the trafficking of women and child for sexual purposes," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in a statement to Baptist Press, the denomination's news service. "It's a tremendously important new tool available to law enforcement officials in prosecuting those who traffic in human flesh. It will make a real difference to the victims of sex trafficking."

Bishop John C. Wester, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, said the legislation will help eliminate "a horrific crime" in the United States and abroad.

"President Bush has done much to elevate public awareness about human trafficking and should be thanked for his leadership," said Wester, of Salt Lake City, Utah. "It will be important, however, that the new administration and new Congress remain vigilant and continue to work to end this abominable practice."

The bill, which passed both houses of Congress on Dec. 10, is named after William Wilberforce, a 19th-century British abolitionist.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at December 24, 2008 | Comments (2)

President Bush gave Charles Colson the Presidential Citizen Medal today.

He was one of 24 people honored today with the second highest honor for a civilian, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Colson was the first member of the Nixon administration to serve prison time for Watergate-related offenses and founded Prison Fellowship in 1976.

"For more than three decades, Chuck Colson has dedicated his life to sharing the message of God's boundless love and mercy with prisoners, former prisoners and their families," the White House said in the citation. "Through his strong faith and leadership, he has helped courageous men and women from around the world make successful transitions back into society."

Colson is also a columnist for Christianity Today.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at December 10, 2008 | Comments (2)

A new ABC interview with President Bush reveals more about his faith, and views on a literal interpretation of the Bible and evolution.

Stepping on some hot topics, Bush said the Bible is "probably not" literally true and believes that God created the earth and in evolution. Here's the interview excerpt:

MCFADDEN: Is it literally true, the Bible?

BUSH: You know. Probably not ... No, I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament, for example is ... has got ... You know, the important lesson is "God sent a son."

MCFADDEN: So, you can read the Bible...

BUSH: That God in the flesh, that mankind can understand there is a God who is full of grace and that nothing you can do to earn his love. His love is a gift and that in order to draw closer to God and in order to express your appreciation for that love is why you change your behavior.

MCFADDEN: So, you can read the Bible and not take it literally. I mean you can -- it's not inconsistent to love the Bible and believe in evolution, say.

BUSH: Yeah, I mean, I do. I mean, evolution is an interesting subject. I happen to believe that evolution doesn't fully explain the mystery of life and ...

MCFADDEN: But do you believe in it?

BUSH: That God created the world, I do, yeah.

MCFADDEN: But what about ...

BUSH: Well, I think you can have both. I think evolution can -- you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God created the Earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty, and I don't think it's incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution.

The entire article is worth a read, but here's another portion:

In the interview, Bush also spoke at length about his personal faith and how it has informed his presidency. The president said that his relationship with God has grown over time, and began when he decided to stop drinking.

"It is hard for me to justify or prove the mystery of the Almighty in my life," he said. "All I can just tell you is that I got back into religion and I quit drinking shortly thereafter and I asked for help -- I was a one-step program guy."

When asked if he thought he would have become president had it not been for his faith, Bush said, "I don't know; it's hard to tell. I do know that I would have been -- I'm pretty confident I would have been a pretty selfish person."

Bush said he is often asked if he thinks he was chosen by God to be president.

"I just, I can't go there," he said. "I'm not that confident in knowing, you know, the Almighty, to be able to say, 'Yeah, God wanted me of all the other people.' My relationship [with God] is on a personal basis trying to become as closer to the Almighty as I possibly can get. And I've got a lot of problems. I mean, I got, you know, the ego ... all the things that prevent me from being closer to the Almighty. So, I don't analyze my relationship with the good Lord in terms of, well, you know, God has plucked you out or God wants you to do this. I know this: I know that the call is to better understand and live out your life according to the will of God."

After he leaves the White House, Bush told ABC that he will try "to stay on the walk to the last day on the face of the Earth." He said, "I've come to this conclusion -- maybe I'm wrong, I don't know -- that the full understanding of Christianity is going to take a full lifetime of study."

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at December 9, 2008 | Comments (6)

As a promotion for StoryCorps' National Day of Listening, President Bush and his wife, Laura, talked about their time in the White House, Bush's parents, and (notably for CT readers), what role faith has played in the president's day-to-day life.

"I've been in the Bible every day since I've been the President, and I have been affected by people's prayers a lot," Bush said. He continued:

I have found that faith is comforting, faith is strengthening, faith has been important. ... I would advise politicians, however, to be careful about faith in the public arena. ...In other words, politicians should not be judgmental people based upon their faith. They should recognize -- as least I have recognized I am a lowly sinner seeking redemption, and therefore have been very careful about saying (accept) my faith or you're bad. In other words, if you don't accept what I believe, you're a bad person.

And the greatness of America -- it really is -- is that you can worship or not worship and be equally American. And it doesn't matter how you choose to worship; you're equally American. And it's very important for any President to jealously protect, guard, and strengthen that freedom.

The President's sister, Doro Bush Koch, also asked Bush how he would like to be remembered. "I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process," his answer began.

Part of the interview aired on NPR on Thanksgiving. The White House website has excerpts.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 1, 2008 | Comments (8)