Even Congress, controlled by the Republican Party, which is dominated by Christian conservatives, passed a resolution last week calling on "born again Methodist" President George W. Bush to order a nationwide day of prayer for the country in its latest hour of need.

On the 11th day of the war, a drive down any country road or through any town centre could not fail to miss a church billboard urging parishioners to turn their thoughts to the 300,000 American troops in Iraq and the Gulf.

"Show them you care, get our prayers behind them," said a sign outside the Wilderness Baptist Church in Spotsylvania, Virginia. No need to ask who "them" refered.

While some churches have condemned the war, most are strongly behind the US troops.

The Iraq conflict also shows how politics and religion walk hand in hand through American life even though the first amendment of the constitution officially separates church and state. Bush's presidential speeches are peppered with religious language and almost always end "God Bless America".

So it was no surprise that both houses of Congress last week urged Bush to declare "a day of humility, prayer amd fasting."

The resolution highlighted the need "to secure the blessings and protection of providence for the people of the United States and our armed forces during the conflict in Iraq and under the threat of terrorism at home."

The use of religion by presidents is nothing new. In 1863, during the civil war, Abraham Lincoln urged the nation to "show humility before God."

But Bush has highlighted his faith more than most modern presidents. During his State of the Nation address in January, as the showdown with Iraq was mounting, Bush repeatedly affirmed his "trust" in God.

His "Axis of Evil" phrase, used last year to club together Iraq, Iran and North Korea as a band of weapons proliferators, was also inspired by his faith.

Just before the war started he said he prayed every day for peace and for the safety of American troops and "innocent Iraqi civilians" in the event of conflict.

About half the US population regularly attends some kind of religious service, according to surveys, and the number has risen sharply since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

A Gallup poll released just after September 11 said that 74 percent of Americans had prayed after the attacks.

The French commentator Alexis de Tocqueville said in 1831 that "the first political institution of American democracy is religion", as many immigrants came to the United States to avoid religious persecution, giving the practice a strong link to freedom and equality in people's minds.

Commenting on the strongly religious nature of US politics, Norman Orstein of the American Enterprise Institute said the resolution passed by Congress should not come as a shock even with the division of church and state.

"Congress in its action intended to look at things a bit differently, especially when there is a time of stress or war, there is a natural desire to turn back to the widest religious tradition," said Orstein.

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