If ever there were a moment of true purpose for my vocation (that is, to educate people about how to read the Bible properly), this is it (HT: Julia O’Brien).  Apparently, in his intelligence briefings to President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld plastered “inspirational” (and wildly out-of-context) Bible verses on top of images of tanks and other weapons of war. GQ broke the story and you can see images of the documents (which look quite amateurish) here.

For instance, one cover sheet shows a tank in front of a sunset, with the text: “‘Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.’ Ephesians 6:13.” Apparently, Rumsfeld missed verse 12, where we read explicitly: “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” And who might these rulers and authorities be? Hmmm.

In another terrible application of biblical text, there is a set of photos showing tanks and soldiers–one of which shows several soldiers in prayer–with the caption: “‘Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.’ Isaiah 5:28.” In context, however, these words describe the foreign army that Yahweh is going to use to bring judgment upon the Israelites. Talk about missing the point.

In his blog post at Beliefnet.com, Steven Waldeman writes:

One has to wonder: why did President Bush tolerate — or even “appreciate” — these messages? The most benign interpretation is that seeing Bible passages brought him comfort to the President during difficult times. But these passages weren’t just about inner strength, they were about righteousness — showing our efforts to be Divinely-backed.

Indeed. A week or so ago, I was thinking that The American Patriot’s Bible was the pinnacle of civil religion (though I appreciate’s Nick’s nudge to read it first), but no, these intelligence reports may be the most blatant instances of civil religion I have ever seen.

Update: Pentagon Reports No Longer Quote Bible

Another update: To nuance what I wrote above, this may not have been “from” Rumsfeld “to” Bush. Whoever wrote them, or saw them–my point is not to lay blame on one particular politician–this is a disturbingly inappropriate use of biblical texts for a political agenda viz-a-viz warfare. If you’d like to get the scoop on more stories coming out, you can see them on Google News.