|
That inaugural spiritBy TIM NICKENS Times Political Editor © St. Petersburg Times, published January 10, 1999 Gov. Jeb Bush's inauguration will be remembered for more than the completion of the Republican takeover of Tallahassee or the cold weather. It will be remembered for its remarkable emphasis on faith and religion, values and spirituality. To many Floridians, such a public, personal display of those beliefs on state government's most important ceremonial day will be comforting. To many others, it may be disconcerting. To everyone interested in government, the motivations of public servants and the relationship between religious convictions and public policy, it should be fascinating. There was no one moment, no single sentence, that gave this inauguration a different tone. Religion is always an element of inaugurations in Washington and Tallahassee. In Florida, there are traditionally inaugural prayer breakfasts at Florida A&M University, and invocations and benedictions are delivered during the actual ceremony outside the Capitol. Last week's inauguration sounded and felt a bit different because of the choir of voices echoing the same themes with such conviction and intensity. Outside the prayer breakfast, Bush's family was asked by reporters about the importance of spiritual beliefs. "I don't believe you can do the job of governor unless you believe in a higher authority," offered Bush's older brother, Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Inside, Republican U.S. Sen. Connie Mack recounted his deeply personal search for answers to his own questions about "God's will." He said he used to decline invitations to offer blessings or attend Bible study meetings with his colleagues until his spiritual rebirth at a Senate Bible study meeting in October 1995. Then Mack recounted other experiences that reaffirmed his religious beliefs, from a walk in the snowy Vermont woods to spending time with a Senate waiter who lay dying in a hospital bed. "It makes no difference whether you are a U.S. senator or a bus boy in the Senate dining room," Mack said. "In God's eyes, we should see each other as brothers." In message and tone, there was little change between the prayer breakfast and the inauguration ceremonies outside the Old Capitol. The Rev. Billy Graham, a long-time friend of the Bush family who has spoken at presidential inaugural events for four decades, called for Bush to lead a "spiritual awakening to restore moral values." "We believe Jeb Bush has been raised up to lead at this moment," Graham said. Michael W. Smith, a reknowned Christian recording artist, sang at both the prayer breakfast and the inaugural ceremony. Bush, who converted to Catholicism after his 1994 loss to incumbent Gov. Lawton Chiles, left no doubt about the importance of his religious convictions in his life. "We have been given life, and through our living the opportunity to know the Divine Giver," he said. "This is not a relationship based on rigid dogma or divisive thinking. It is based on acceptance and love of others, despite their faults, just as we have been accepted and loved, despite ours. This very private relationship is the wellspring from which goodness flows, and combined with the goodness of others can be the torrent that changes our society." Of course, the country and the state have had plenty of other leaders with strong religious convictions. Among them: Bush's father, former President George Bush; former President Jimmy Carter; Chiles; and former Gov. Buddy MacKay. But Bush's inauguration shined an awfully bright spotlight on that facet of his life. Some Republicans claimed they did not notice a shift in tone from recent inaugurations. "I ain't the first Republican in church, and I didn't think it was overdone at all," Florida Republican Party Chairman Tom Slade said. But the new governor's emphasis on "faith, family, friends" was noticed by members of both political parties. "It's a little different than some people think," H. Wayne Huizenga, the Republican fund-raiser and Miami Dolphins owner, told the Miami Herald after the speech, "but I think it's the right way for us to go." Florida Democratic Party Chairman Mitch Ceasar said Bush's references to faith and religion were "a bit more than I anticipated." He wondered whether the inauguration reflects stronger philosophical ties between Bush and the religious right than Bush acknowledged during a campaign aimed at moderate voters. This is not to question the depth or sincerity of Bush's religious beliefs. It also would be a stretch to infer from the inauguration how the new governor will respond to legislation on school prayer or abortion or placing the Ten Commandments in all public buildings. How Bush will carry out his ideas for turning to churches and synagogues to help address Florida's problems also remains unclear. But at their best, inaugurations offer a glimpse of the values a new leader intends to apply to governing. Bush's inauguration provided an unusually broad view of his spiritual commitment. How those beliefs affect the new governor's decisions on public policy will be one of the more intriguing story lines in Tallahassee.
Business |
Citrus |
Columnists |
Commentary |
|
