Bush Tells Religious Group World ‘Is on Side of God’

WASHINGTON — President Bush, hailing moves toward democracy throughout Eastern Europe, said Monday that “the world, increasingly, is on the side of God.”

Bush, in a speech to the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters, also said: “I believe with all my heart that one cannot be America’s President without a belief in God, without the strength that your faith gives to you.”

He got a rousing response from the crowd of about 2,000, particularly when he expressed opposition to abortion and when he reiterated his support for a constitutional amendment permitting voluntary prayer in public schools.

“We believe that political values without moral values, a moral underpinning, cannot sustain a people,” Bush said.

He recalled his comment in his inaugural address that “the day of the dictator is over,” and said, “Indeed, the last year has been a victory for the freedoms with which God has blessed the United States of America. We have seen the rights of man move mountains or--as in East Berlin--even move a wall.

Bush said the changes in Eastern Europe “were propelled by many things, faith not the least of them.” He said that as pro-democracy demonstrations spread across Europe, “the day of the dictator did end.”