A letter in the mail this morning:

Here is one of President Bush’s most important accomplishments. Because of the horrible war in the Middle East, missionaries were able to get in and begin planting churches. …

<snip>

According to the scrpitures we were put here on this earth to spread the “gospel.” President Bush has made this possible and many are being saved and are very thankful.

Man might not be happy with Bush but I’m sure our Heavenly Father has noticed.

Whew. Where to start.

When did it become the job of the President of the United States to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ across the globe?

I realize this is a relatively marginal sentiment (though here in Lancaster County it isn’t that marginal); but it is a window into how a certain subset of American citizens think, and why some still supported Bush despite all that’s happened these past eight years.

If you, like this letter writer, believe that the single most important task of the American president is to spread the gospel - that it trumps issues of national security and war, the economy and the well-being of the people here at home - then of course you think Bush was a successful president.

But is it and should it be the job of the American president to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, or to create conditions where it might be spread?

Or is that not part of his job description?

Do you see, now, why the “Christianists” (as Sullivan calls them) pose an inherent challenge, and maybe an inherent danger, to the well-being of the country?

When the economy matters less than spreading the gospel, botching the economy is no biggie. When devastating war offers the chance to spread the gospel - bring it on.

When spreading the gospel is the overriding imperative, anything can be excused - and God is still pleased.

Too bad God doesn’t vote. Or maybe he does affect the outcome of elections - just not in the way these folks think.