The subject of Dubya's religion has come up in diaries lately.
Fact is, Dubya has worn his religion prominently on his sleeve in every election he's run.
He uses his religion as a club to beat his opponents (or rather, to beat straw-man charicatures of his oponents). And his religion figures prominently in many policies, from his "Faith-Based" initiative to his 'marriage protection' amendment.
So why doesn't Dubya go to church?
Amy Sullivan had a great piece on this in The Gadflyer:
(adapted
at Beliefnet, here):
Ever since a few conservative bishops raised questions about Kerry's Catholicism, given his pro-choice positions, journalists have trailed the Senator to church, breathlessly wondering if this will be the week he's denied communion... What they haven't done is take up the task of following President George W. Bush to his home church. That's because of one small problem: He doesn't have one.
Particularly if that opponent has staked much of his domestic agenda on the argument that civil society--and particularly religious congregations--holds the key to solving social problems. I think it's perfectly relevant and fair to ask why a man with such firm convictions about the power of religious congregations doesn't belong to a congregation himself, though he may drop in on services at places like St. John's Episcopal Church (near the White House) from time to time.
Why doesn't he? Among the reasons I've been given is that the security precautions would be too onerous. This, it should be noted, is the exact same excuse Ronald Reagan proffered for not attending church at all during his time in Washington. And I'd almost buy it, if not for the fact that for several years in the late 1990s, I attended Foundry Methodist Church when the Clintons were members there and found that it took all of an extra five seconds to pass through the metal detectors and enter the church. Parishioners were not outnumbered by tourists (and, in any case, we were happy that they were in church, no matter what the reason) and the Clintons played an active role in the life of the church, with Chelsea particularly involved in the choir and youth group while she was still in town.
Okay, Bush's defenders say, but even if he did go to church, it's tough for a president to be really involved with a congregation. He is, after all, running the free world. But, then again, he has spent almost 500 days on vacation over the past four years...
Let's face it - this is one more area in which Dubya can talk the talk, but doesn't even bother to try to walk the walk.