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, saying, ``I support the sanctity of life,'' and when he reiterated his support for a constitutional amendment permitting voluntary prayer in public schools. Bush has been a regular speaker at the broadcasters' conventions. Monday's address marked his fourth appearance before the group. ``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.'' The president praised the role of religious figures in democratic revolutions, and singled out a Romanian Orthodox priest, Gheorghe Calciu, who spent 21 of his 64 years in jail and was spared at the last minute from a death sentence. Addressing the priest, who was in the audience, Bush said, ``Father, it's an honor to salute you. ... I know, too, you hope to return to your native land.'' ``And in this season of miracles, who can doubt you will?,'' Bush said. ``For today, the times are on the side of peace, because the world, increasingly, is on the side of God.''
