The video of Jesus Factor centers on how George W. Bush was converted to Christianity and how this decision to be born again impacted on his political career. In history president Bush had been regarded as the most religious person. The documentary explains in details what impact religion had on both the personal and political life of the president of the United States. The Jesus Factor starts by pointing out the earlier life of George Bush before he converted to Christianity. It shows how he was struggling with letdowns in his businesses and on the other hand he was a drunkard. This had a lot of effects on his life as a person and upcoming business and politician. He used to sniff, got involved in accidents due to reckless driving, and losing people’s money in unclear oil plans. This plan was not executed in a way which seemed appropriate as it resulted in a negative productivity. There was a time when a friend, Billy Graham came to spend the weekend in Bush’s place. This time marked the turning point in the life of George Bush as he was able to receive Jesus as his personal savior this was how Bush explained. The friends of Bush were able to notice that the change that Bush underwent was significant in his life. For Bush Jesus was a philosopher and being related with him in his political life was going to enable him during his ruling of a nation that does not recognize the presence of God (Peterson & Walhof 129).
After accepting Jesus, Bush is seen to be a stanch Christian. He made the study of the bible his daily routine. He used to attend Texas bible community for his bible study. So to him receiving Jesus was not just a passing experience but it had an impact in his life as a whole. The irony behind this is that their bible study was only consisting of men.
During the presidential campaign the newly found faith of Bush proved to be important in political arena. The most well known group for its influential political power was the one for the evangelical Christians. This group helped to elect Ronald Reagan as the president for the United States. Hence George Bush was acknowledged for playing an important role in strengthening the support of this group during his father’s campaign period. Political aspects of Bush are highly attributed to the role the Christians played. Christianity change the way Bush operated and his decisions were highly backed by the Christian fraternity. His political career came to being after being a born again Christian. The bad things he was used to doing before getting saved were all left behind and a new life begun. This life is what has changed the way Bush operated and executed all the presidential duties. This means that the dark ages of the Bush were when he was not saved. After receiving Jesus in his life, things worked well for him.
It is highly appreciated that the Gorge Bush the father got an overwhelming support with respect to his son’s involvement in Politics. He assured the people of the values that his father would show if only they give him an opportunity to do so. After the failed attempt for Bush as he campaigned for the congress, he knew that his evangelical testimonies were going to help him later during his campaigns as the governor of Texas. This is because his failure was the fact that he was portrayed as a rich secular person who knew less about the church. Hence his newly found faith was going to help him to be in good terms with the people of Texas who were mainly Christians.
In the documentary George Bush is shown being in the church scenery and he was leading the congregation. He had now adopted their values, was talking their language fluently and he seemed to be likeable to this group of people who would be of great help to him in his political ambitions. They were likely to cast their votes for him and may even convince their friends to do so. They were also likely to help him financially and be his campaigners. This is why the move that Bush made to accept Jesus was the most significant thing in his life (Boyd 167).
The Jesus Factor also contains the history of the efforts that Bush had in helping the Christian community. He fought for the government to give permission to faith based societies to be able to access the government’s financial support for their social service activities. He also promised them that he was going to press forward for the idea once elected to the white house. This therefore showed how the Christian support for Bush deemed necessary to ensure his victory. The information of how the 2000 elections were carried out is also contained. It shows that about two third of the Christian group voted for George Bush.
In the documentary the audience listens to the Christians who claim that George Bush recognizes both the heart and the soul. His speech is a consolation to a grieving state. There is also a narration to those who have a feeling that George has taken his religion so far. They put it that if religion is being used as a tool to gain political fame then it may cease being the sacred part of life where we obtain good morals and strength. The president of the new faith alliance has claimed that every time religion is linked with politics it becomes injured. Jesus Factor concludes by stressing the importance of the Christian fraternity in Presidents Bush re-election campaign plan (King 216).
The democrats have been critical of the republican stand. They claim that if happiness is to prevail there should be a clear cut between the church and the state. They claim that the leadership of Bush is the worst since he has placed more emphasis on the religious groups in the country’s constitution to fit his own personal needs. In the Jesus Factor there is a part where Bush is viewed holding the bible and claiming that it should act as a guide to the people of America. He had much belief in giving huge amounts to the religious groups and discrimination in the employment whereby those to be hired should come from the church for according to him they operate using a higher set of rules and regulations. This is wrong when it is interpreted in the lawful action of the citizenship.
The civil rights here as per the application of the employment have been violated. It is therefore appropriate for the church to uphold the desire of the Christianity separately from the employment favors. Christianity should be taken as a religion just like other religions and that it has sets of rules which every faithful should uphold to them and be able to act as per the teachings. In Jesus Factor, the idea of people being hired from church will amounts to civil rights strike in quest of fairness. This is because hiring fellow saints will not be appropriate since the whole nation shall be in charge of funding them and this explains why there was civil rights movement which was established (Domke & Coe 102).
Through this idea Bush was violating the rights of those who had to shed blood so as to gain equal protection by the laws of the country. Jesus Factor also brings out the fact that there are people especially the religious individuals who get into positions of leadership with only the support of their fellow Christians. It is therefore obvious that if a republican has the backing of the Christian turn out every time, the democrats will never step into the white house. Since all the republicans with the evangelicals support has risen to power without any challenge. There is also indication that the bible group of Bush is dominated by males. This means that the whole affair is of males in the leadership scenes and their domination over women. There is also an indication that the men of Texas have been hiding how they orgasm with Jesus from their wives who might have passed a quick judgment on them. The Jesus Factor is also indicated where they believe that they can be saints without the presence of their wives. This also means that they could be wife-beaters. This indicates as we are all aware on how Bush came with the lost weekend. This is when he was with Billy Graham where Bush let go the sauce, visualize his mistakes and moved up the ladder of politics. This justifies the love of Jesus Christ for one to be among those who will go to heaven.
Works cited
Boyd, Gregory. The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church. Michigan: Zondervan, 2007. pp. 156-171.
Domke, David Scott, & Coe, Kevin. The God strategy: how religion became a political weapon in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 89 -109.
King, Desmond. The polarized presidency of George W. Bush. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 203-239.
Peterson, Derek & Walhof, Darren. The invention of religion: rethinking belief in politics and history. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2002, pp. 126-132.