America/Conor O'Clery: Since President George Bush made the unfortunate comment shortly after September 11th that he wanted to lead a "crusade" against terrorism, his administration has been careful not to use that loaded word again or to depict US efforts against militant Islamic groups as a clash of cultures or religions.
Mr Bush has gone out of his way to praise Islam as "a religion of peace" and has criticised evangelicals who call Islam a dangerous faith.
These include powerful figures on the religious right like broadcaster Pat Robertson, who described Islam as a violent religion that wants to "dominate and then, if need be, destroy". The Rev Franklin Graham, who said the prayers at Mr Bush's inauguration, has called Islam "a very evil and wicked religion".
Such views clearly still strike a chord however among some high-ranking people engaged in the US war on terrorism. The army general responsible for tracking down Osama bin Laden, for example, believes he is engaged in a struggle pitting Judeo-Christian values against the Devil.
Addressing a religious group in Oregon in June while wearing uniform and combat boots, Lieut Gen William "Jerry" Boykin said radical Islamists hated the US "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian and the enemy is a guy named Satan".
Boykin, recently promoted to deputy undersecretary of defence for intelligence, on another occasion recalled a battle against an Islamic warlord in Somalia who said he was protected by Allah.
"I knew my God was bigger than his," the general said. "I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."
Stephen Cohen, president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development in New York, said the use of the phrase Judeo-Christian was a big mistake as "it's basically the language of Bin Laden and his supporters" and created the impression "that Jews and Christians were getting together to beat up on Islam".
The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, told reporters after NBC aired transcripts of Boykin's speeches on Wednes- day that the general had an outstanding record and "we are a free people"; Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "It doesn't look like any rules were broken." Boykin has no doubt that God is on the American side. President Bush, he told the audience in Oregon, is in the White House, despite getting a minority of votes, "because God put him there for a time such as this."
- The role of God in American public life - or more precisely in the pledge of allegiance recited in schools - was taken up this week by the US Supreme Court.
The original pledge, drawn up in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister from Boston, was a secular declaration but the words "under God" were added in 1954 following a campaign by religious leaders against "godless communists".
A California man, Michael Newdow, an atheist, has now sued a school district in Sacramento to prevent his nine- year-old daughter from being denied her right not to recognise any god. Newdow has sued unsuccessfully before to have the words "In God we trust" removed from dollar bills and to prevent the Rev Graham from saying the prayer at Mr Bush's inauguration. This time he met with some success.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the pledge violated the first amendment of the constitution, which says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion", as it endorsed a monotheistic religion.
The Supreme Court, which has banned school-sponsored prayer in the classroom, has agreed to make a ruling in a case in the near future. One of the nine chief justices, Antonin Scalia, has recused himself which could make it a 4-4 tie, upholding the California's court's decision.
The controversy has touched a raw nerve and could intensify a backlash against the 200- year-old separation of church and state in America. In recent years, conservative legislators have pressed to include more references to god in public life.
Republican Congressman Ernest Istook of Oklahoma has filed an amendment to the constitution explicitly allowing religious expression in public. It will get a lot of support in the House of Representatives.
Last year he was one of 57 co- sponsors, along with House Majority leader Tom DeLay, of a bill to endorse the display of the Ten Commandments in govern- ment buildings. When news of the California court decision became known, many gathered in the chamber to protest by singing God bless America.
- It wasn't the hand of God but the hand of man that dealt a cruel blow to Chicago this week, plunging much of the the city into despair. For 95 straight years, the Chicago Cubs have failed to qualify for the World Series, as America's baseball finals are grandly known.
On Wednesday they were within an ace of breaking their bad run, this time against the Florida Marlins, when the "billy goat" curse struck again (a reference to a long-ago refusal to admit a fan with his goat).
As a Cubs outfielder leaped to make a seemingly inevitable and match-winning catch beside the stands, a supporter, Steve Bartman, stretched out his hand above him and, without meaning to, tipped the ball away from the player's fingers.
As the Cubs lost again and Bartman went into hiding from furious fans, the city's despair was summed up by the Chicago Tribune headline: "The Bleat Goes On".