God Wills It: Presidents and the Political Use of Religion by David O'Connell

Author:David O'Connell [O'Connell, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Leadership, Political Science, Political Process
ISBN: 9781351517119
Google: IiIxDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 23531289
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1969-12-31T00:00:00+00:00

Having claimed that America’s “hunger” for meaning and shared faith in “the same God” were “a good solid base” on which the country’s problems might be solved, Carter transitioned into a discussion of the specific challenge of energy. He continued:

We live in the greatest and the strongest nation on Earth. It’s the strongest nation on Earth militarily. We need fear no one, and we will never be second to any other country in military strength. And, of course, we are the strongest nation on Earth economically, because God blessed us with such great natural resources. In the past, we’ve not always handled them carefully. We’ve not been constant good stewards of what we’ve inherited. But I really believe that the recent reminder that there is a limit to how much waste Americans can accept in our society is healthy for us.

Carter admitted that “it’s not been possible for us in the past to marshal our great strength and to unify ourselves to meet a challenge that was not quite so easy to see—the threat to our security from the importation next year of $70 billion worth of foreign oil.” But he did volunteer his hope that America was making progress. The reader should note the similarity between these remarks and those Carter made during his Delta Queen trip.

In remarks to an American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) convention in San Diego, Carter spent about a fifth of his time discussing energy. Carter observed that the Pope’s teachings illustrated how America’s problems could only be solved if we abandoned our selfishness:

The visit of Pope John Paul has given us a chance to reflect on our basic values and the challenges to them. We cannot permit this chance to slip away. Let’s seize this opportunity and make the most of it.

Perhaps the greatest gift the Pope gave us in his brief visit to our country was a chance to rethink what these four words mean, “One nation, under God.” He lifted our eyes from petty concerns, sometimes selfish concerns, from the cynicism and the indifference that sometimes divides Americans one from another, to show us that we can unite for common purposes, as Americans, as children of God, or as citizens of a fragile world.

Now let us rededicate ourselves to a simple truth that together we can shape a bright future … (Carter 1979l)

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.