Was 9/11 God's will?

George Bush might think so. Early on in his widely ignored farewell address (given with 5 days in a tumultuous world still left in his Presidency) --

Fellow citizens: For eight years, it has been my honor to serve as your President. The first decade of this new century has been a period of consequence -- a time set apart.

Those last four words stand out as a bit precious for a political speech and sure enough, they have a history. He used them before in his 2004 State of the Union --

in a subtle reference to religious texts that refer to divine service as a time “set apart,” he said: “Having come this far, we sense that we live in a time set apart.”

So maybe the nation was in divine service the last 8 years, or more likely, he was. There's also an echo of one of the strangest right wing talking points about 9/11, that it was an Epiphany. Bush always speaks about his confidence in the judgment of history. But it's God's judgment that he's surest about.