Middle East policy banks on destruction

[dArKeR]

By CESAR CHELALA
Special to The Japan Times

NEW YORK -- The decision by the Bush campaign to enlist thousands of religious congregations in the United States to distribute information and register voters for the November presidential election shows how close the connection has become between politics and religion, a situation not anticipated by the founding fathers of the U.S. Constitution. Under this circumstance, government runs the risk of making political decisions based primarily on religious considerations, thus undermining the constitutional separation between church and state.

This issue is seen clearly in the arena of reproductive rights and in Bush administration policies regarding the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, where Christian fundamentalists have been influencing the U.S. national and international agenda.

A measure of importance given to Christian fundamentalists by the Bush administration is that, since 2001, several dozen of them have been named in key positions in the Department of Health and Human Services and in the Federal Drug Administration.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?eo20040627a2.htm