‘Creator’ Is Freedom’s Source, Ashcroft Says

NASHVILLE —  Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft portrayed the battle against terrorism in starkly religious tones of good versus evil at a sermon-style speech Tuesday, saying that “civilized” people respect freedoms granted by the Creator.

“The call to defend civilization from terrorism resonates from a deeper source than our legal or even our political institutions. Civilized individuals--Christians, Jews and Muslims--all understand that the source of freedom and human dignity is the Creator,” Ashcroft told the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters Assn.

“All people are called to the defense of the grantor of freedom, and the framework of freedom he created,” said Ashcroft, the devout son of a Pentecostal minister. “And this is our responsibility: the guarding of freedom that God grants is the noble charge of the Department of Justice. It is a cause in which all people may participate.”

Ashcroft’s 25-minute speech, laced with biblical quotations, took on the feel of a Sunday morning sermon, as the attorney general’s comments drew “amens” and frequent applause from a crowd of more than 6,000. But his comments could revive questions that have dogged Ashcroft since his heated nomination battle last year--namely, whether his deeply held religious beliefs color his actions as the nation’s chief law enforcement official.

Ashcroft was already thrown on the defensive earlier this month when Muslim groups called for Bush to fire Ashcroft because he allegedly said that while Christianity is a faith in which God “sends his son to die for you,” Islam is “a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him.” Ashcroft said the remark, attributed to him by a conservative columnist, did not “accurately reflect what I believe I said.”

Ashcroft has never shied away from his religious beliefs as a public figure. He holds devotional sessions with prayers and readings nearly every day at the Justice Department. His speech Tuesday appeared to mark his most expansive public comments on the subject as attorney general.

Critics said that although they weren’t surprised by Ashcroft’s continued focus on issues of religion and morality, some elements of the speech made them uncomfortable. Robert Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a nonprofit group in Washington, said he was particularly bothered by Ashcroft’s focus on “civilized” people respecting freedoms granted by “the Creator.”

“One of the things he’s never understood is that true pluralism in our society includes those who would choose not to believe, and there are millions of Americans who fall under that umbrella,” Boston said.

But his remarks clearly struck a sympathetic chord with the audience in the ballroom of the Opryland Hotel, as many bowed their heads in prayer afterward.

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Lichtblau reported from Washington and Lobdell from Nashville.