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George W. Bush's War on Terrorism and Sin
Abstract
In George W. Bush’s inaugural address, informed by ‘compassionate conservatism’,
there was a tension between two familiar goals in US political discourse:
conserving the status quo and changing the world for the better by cleansing it of
sin. In Bush’s discursive construction of the war on terrorism, ‘compassionate
conservatism’ and the construction of sin were folded into a unified discourse,
with the emphasis on preventing dangerous change rather than creating positive
change. A static state of safety, constantly protected by ‘compassionate conservatism’
and war, is now offered by American conservatives as the most viable
and most patriotic way to stave off the forces of sin.
there was a tension between two familiar goals in US political discourse:
conserving the status quo and changing the world for the better by cleansing it of
sin. In Bush’s discursive construction of the war on terrorism, ‘compassionate
conservatism’ and the construction of sin were folded into a unified discourse,
with the emphasis on preventing dangerous change rather than creating positive
change. A static state of safety, constantly protected by ‘compassionate conservatism’
and war, is now offered by American conservatives as the most viable
and most patriotic way to stave off the forces of sin.