Bush Born Fighting?

This article saying church goers are more likely to support the war in Iraq than people who do not go to church is fascinating. They use the results of a Gallup Poll to reach their conclusion. Jim Webb also gets mentioned.

Why then are churchgoers the likeliest to back the Iraq War? Former Navy Secretary James Webb, himself now a war critic, explains in his recent best seller "Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America," that American evangelicals are disproportionately Celtic and warlike. The Scots-Irish culture that predominates in the U.S. South and lower mid-west has always been pro-military.

I have read Born Fighting. It is a very good book. I also have been waiting on a article about this subject. This morning I found it. Jim Webb is proud of his Scots Irish blood and addresses support for the war, but he leaves this chapter out.

Bush, the Methodist from Texas of Scots-Irish roots, fits the "Born Fighting" stereotype of the Jacksonian war hawk. But, if Gallup is right, other types of Protestants, along with Catholics and Jews, can also understand the need for sacrifice, persistence, and a vision beyond the typical news cycles. The third anniversary of the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein has rattled many former war supporters and confirmed the fears of war opponents. Contrary to the stereotypes, the faithful can often face the moral complexities of politics and war better than the secularist Utopians.

Interesting reading indeed. Bush is a Jacksonian war hawk? Is this the same Jacksonian Webb declares to be? What else do these men have in common is the big question. The more you learn about Jim Webb the more irony you discover. Could Tugboat Phil be right?

Technorati : Born Fighting, Bush, Jim Webb, Religion, War