By Jack Engelhard
8/02/03
You Swore Upon The Bible, Sir, Not The Koran

Dear Mr. Bush:

On January 20, 2001, you were sworn in as president by Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist. That in itself is remarkable, for, how many of us get to be a president? Even fewer can claim a father as a former president. But something equally special occurred that day.

You raised your right hand and swore to defend the Constitution of the United States "so help me God."

Meanwhile, your left hand was placed resolutely upon the Bible! Not the Koran, Sir -- the Bible. In doing so, besides upholding a tradition that goes back to our founding fathers, you instantly and automatically made a covenant to uphold all that is virtuous to Christians and Jews. Equally, you confirmed your belief in the absolute and everlasting truth of God's words.

(Truman is said to have bent over to kiss the Bible after being sworn in.)

Perhaps at some future time the Koran will be used to swear in our presidents and cabinet officers, and Allah, instead of God, will be praised. Meanwhile, the Bible is the Holy Writ of this nation, and nowhere in these Scriptures of ours will you find any mention of a two-state solution. On the contrary, the Bible that you swore upon speaks vehemently about a One-State Solution, as I mentioned in an earlier letter to you. (Please review: "Mr. President, About That Palestinian State," Feb.27, 2003, http://www.comteqcom.com/jackcolumn.php)

But in case you missed that one, here's a recap as it appears in Psalm 105: "He has remembered His covenant for ever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations...The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac...And He established it unto Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant...Saying, 'Unto you will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance...'"

Could this be any clearer? Isn't this the language you like, Mr. Bush? Plain-speaking, direct, to the point, no equivocating? One State...a Jewish State...period!

Or, as  House Majority Leader Tom DeLay put it just a few days ago, bringing it all up to date: "I can't imagine this president supporting a state of terrorists."

But obviously, Mr. President, that's exactly what you're doing, as if you've forgotten your Book, your God, your oath. Colin Campbell (I'm sure you know him as "The Newspaper Priest") reminds us that an oath is defined by the Greek and Latin poets as "the road from which no man returns."

Sadly, you have returned upon your word, and have rendered unto Amalek the land deeded to Jacob.

May I suggest that in your next Bible study class, you hook up with Tom DeLay. No backslider, he. The Very New York Times describes Evangelical DeLay as a leader of the Christian Zionist movement "whose strong support for the Jewish State is based on their interpretation of the Bible."

In these studies, Mr. President, you'll find (as Campbell notes) that an oath is serious business, and goes back in time. At Beersheba, Abraham took an oath not to deal falsely with Abimelech. Jacob demanded an oath from his son Joseph: "Bury me not in Egypt, but in the Land of Israel." But here's the clincher, Mr. President. There was another father/son one/two punch that preceded you and your dad.

Some 3,000 years ago, in the One-State Jewish Land of Israel, King David swore that "as the Lord lives" Solomon will rule after him.

Actually, here's the real clincher, and again it comes from the same Bible upon which you were sworn into office:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."