Last week George W. Bush was inaugurated as President of the
United States. His 20 minute speech was short enough so that
it was heard very well around the world.
It was an occasion that was heavy with American ceremony, and
thus demanded a speech with grand ideas. True to the form
that helped him win the election, Mr. Bush spoke about quite
a bit about freedom which is, according to him, "the
permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the
longing of the soul."
But Bush did not only describe his ideals, he promised
— or threatened, depending on your perspective —
to act on them. "It is the policy of the United States to
seek and support the growth of democratic movements and
institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate
goal of ending tyranny in our world."
He did not mention the monumental headache that he has in
Iraq. On the contrary, he gave the definite impression that
he was prepared to take other action where tyranny is a
problem. His new Secretary of State listed six "outposts of
tyranny," including Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Myanmar,
Zimbabwe and Belarus. The New York Times said that a
"close colleague" of Ms. Rice said that she "was trying to be
illustrative, not comprehensive." That is, there are more
tyrannical problems in the world.
Though Bush started his speech saying that G-d has blessed
America, he went on to talk as if he knew how to run the
world, all by himself. He projected a feeling of immense
confidence and that he, and/or America, enjoys enormous,
virtually unstoppable, power.
We wish President Bush and the American people all the best.
But we must confess that the speech left us with foreboding
for the future.
To us, the first and foremost lesson that belief in G-d
teaches man is humility. Though America's power is truly
awesome, there are very important higher powers.
There is the raw physical power that was so evident recently
in the tsunami that suddenly, without any forewarning and
preparation, unleashed a display of power that dwarfs
anything that man can do. There is also the more subtle power
of G-d to shape history and arrange things through his
Providence to frustrate the plans of the most powerful human
beings, and to drive mankind to the goals that He has set.
Orlando Patterson, a professor at Harvard, has explained that
there are two modern meanings to the word "freedom." One is
freedom in a social and political sense: civil liberties,
universal political participation, and social justice.
The other sense of freedom is personal — "privatized"
is Professor Patterson's term. It means independence and
autonomy, or in other words, simply "doing what one wants and
getting one's way."
The first refers to achieving goals that are larger than any
individual. It means the fulfillment of true moral goals in
the social and political spheres.
The second is totally dependent on who is doing the wanting.
For most Americans today, what they want is nothing more than
simple physical enjoyment, and getting their way just means
that they have access to the particular pleasures that they
prefer.
Is this the freedom that George Bush champions? This is not
ideals and values but precisely the opposite.
George Bush has grandiose plans for America and for the
world. However if he is blinded by hubris, we fear for
him.
There is a Higher Power Who sees and intervenes, when things
do not go as He wants. His goals are the only important goals
and His will prevails.
