Dulmálari

Professor Bruce Lincoln of the University of Chicago submitted that speech [his address to the nation on 7 October 2001, only a month after 9/11, announcing air strikes against Afghanistan] to a line-by-line analysis, and found clear references to Isaiah, Job, and the Book of Revelation. The image of terrorists who "may burrow deeper into caves and other entrenched hiding places" sounds merely like awkward writing, Lincoln notes, yet it contains "biblical allusions plainly audible to portions of his audience who are attentive to such phrasing, but likely to go unheard by those without the requisite textual knowledge." This kind of Bible-talk enables George W Bush to communicate with initiates, winking at them conspiratorially as partners in a type of Christianity that is based on the careful reading of esoteric texts.