Schizophrenia is “any of a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, hallucinations, accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbances. A condition that results from the coexistence of disparate, antagonistic qualities, identities, or activities” (www.Dictionary.com)

To Mr. Bush’s 50 million right-wing fundamentalist Christians who enthusiastically endorse his war and his rightwing agenda, the fact that he prays about everything is most appealing. This could be very comforting because it suggests President Bush will obtain righteous, intelligent, moral answers, that is, unless you know this God. 

Mr. Bush believes, “I’m driven with a mission from God.”  In 2003, Mr. Bush “heard God” tell him to invade Iraq because Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).  Amazingly, there have been not only no WMDs found in Iraq, but also Iraq’s WMD program had been terminated a decade earlier in 1992.  Either Mr. Bush needs a hearing aide or his allegedly omniscient God misled our President. Someone is suffering from “illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations.” Is it Mr. Bush, his God, or both?

Liberal Christians oppose the war. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Sons of God … You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I tell you not to resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also ... love your enemies and bless those that curse you, do good to those who hate you” (Matthew 5:9,38,39,44). Has God forgotten the teachings of Jesus or was Jesus just kidding? Do biblical-literalists who support Mr. Bush ignore these verses or does their blind loyalty permit biblical cherry picking?

The German Federal Administrative Court recently determined the attack by the U.S. and its allies against the nation of Iraq was a clear act of aggression that violated international law (Article 4, Paragraph 4 of the UN Charter). The Nuremberg Tribunal clearly stated that, “To initiate a war of aggression is … an international crime.” If God told Mr. Bush to invade Iraq, then God approved violating international law and the Nuremberg Tribunal established to prevent another Nazi Germany type aggression. Is this the Judeo-Christian God? George Bush’s God has placed America above international law.

What happened to the revered biblical Commandment “Thou shalt not kill”?  U.S. forces and their allies have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi Christians and Muslims. The peer reviewed British medical journal Lancet estimates 100,000 Iraqis were killed between March 2003 and October 2004.  Here we are a year later. The battles in Fallujah, Ramadi, Qaim, Tel Afar, Hillah, and Baghdad continue killing Iraqis by U.S. forces.  The number of Iraqis killed since March 2003 could now approximate 200,000 people, so-called “collateral damage.”  If 20,000 insurgents have died, that equates to 10 innocent civilians for every 1 insurgent killed. 

Some would suggest that if any one is at fault it must be Mr. Bush. God could not have a psychotic disorder like humans. Yet, what could be more schizophrenic than a God who says, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil, I the LORD do all these things"? Isaiah 45:7.  The bible’s God kills multitudes of innocent people.

The renowned Prince of Peace says, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34. In a parable Jesus states, “Those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” Luke 19:27. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate passed by a vote of 90-9 an amendment to the Pentagon’s funding bill that would prohibit torture. President Bush has said he will veto this bill. Mr. Bush will make his mark in history by using the only veto of his presidency to block the prohibition of torture. America, the land of the free and home of the brave can now proudly support history’s most heinous crime: torture. 

George Bush, his God, and their fundamentalist supporters are oblivious to their condition. They suffer from a delusional “withdrawal from reality … illogical patterns of thinking.” Under their surreptitious leadership, America supports a “coexistence of disparate, antagonistic qualities.” The feared avian flu pandemic scare only vaguely foreshadows the schizophrenia pandemic already here.

Lee Salisbury is a former evangelical preacher, founder of the Critical Thinking Club of Minnesota, and writes for www.axisoflogic.com and www.dissendentvoice.org.