The decision by the Bush campaign to enlist thousands of religious congregations all over the country to distribute information and register voters for the coming presidential elections shows how close the connection has become between politics and religion, a situation not anticipated by the United States founding fathers in the Constitution. This circumstance runs the risk of having government make political decisions based primarily on religious considerations, thus undermining the separation between Church and State that the Constitution clearly establishes.

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

A measure of the 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.

These leading officials wage considerable influence on all matters pertaining to reproductive and sexual health. The words "reproductive health" were replaced by other terms such as "related preventive health services," and scientific studies related to abortion and condom use were eliminated from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Health Web sites.

These and other similar actions have provoked a strong rebuke from the Union of Concerned Scientists which in a 2004 report states, "There is significant evidence that the scope and scale of the manipulation, suppression and misrepresentation of science by the Bush administration is unprecedented….".

Christian fundamentalists have been equally vocal in influencing the administration's Middle East policy. In 2002, when president Bush demanded that Sharon withdraw from Jenin, the White House was flooded with e-mail messages from Christian fundamentalists repudiating this position, and the issue was never mentioned again.

Support by the Christian fundamentalists of the Israeli government's policies is based on their widespread belief that Christ will return to Earth when certain conditions have been met, the most critical one being the establishment of the State of Israel. Two additional conditions are Israel's total occupation of its "biblical lands," and the rebuilding of the Third Temple. This new temple should be built in the place now occupied by the Temple Mount, one of the holiest sites in Islam. The seeds of further conflict are too evident. According to this worldview war is inevitable, and will happen before Christ appears.

This view also determines that the Antichrist will also become manifest. Under the guise of a peacemaker he will wage war and Christians will be persecuted. A great battle will then take place between Christ and the Antichrist in Armageddon, outside of Jerusalem. Those saved by Christ and those "born again" will be taken into heaven. Those Jews who "accept" Jesus as the Messiah will also be saved. Otherwise, they will burn in hell with the other "unsaved" -Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Jews- and will suffer eternally.

How do these beliefs translate into the present situation in the Middle East? Christian fundamentalists believe that God gave the citizens of Israel the land that historically belongs to them, including that inhabited by Palestinians. But, what about the Palestinians presently living there? For the prophesy to be realized, they must be removed, no matter what the consequences.

Those beliefs seem to be the basis for US policy in the Middle East, and explain the US's unwavering support for the Israeli government's policies. These policies are responsible for the ruthless expropriation of Palestinian lands, the widespread creation of new settlements, the wanton attacks on Palestinian civilians, and the resultant suicide bombings that are brutally killing and maiming innocent civilians.

If any word can describe this situation that word is waste, waste of peace, waste of human lives, waste of energies. Given the disproportionate difference in power, it is up to enlightened Israelis to initiate a drastic move for change, and build on what has been done by Israeli and Palestinian women and men's peace organizations. Nothing will happen without sacrifices on both sides. The alternative, however, is further destruction and death.

César Chelala (cchelala@aol.com) is an award-winning writer on human rights issues.

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