Last night, as I conversed with a woman perhaps 35 years my senior, my interlocutor expressed regrets for spending "the last eight years so angry." Her rage has passed: the election of Barack Obama and the end of the Bush terms has brought her peace.
I am glad for her. She is a sweet lady. It used to hurt me to see how much she suffered. I had seen her a few times crying in church; when I'd approach her to extend my sympathy, she'd actually denounce then-President Bush through her tears and clenched teeth. But that was some time ago. We no longer genuflect and sing in the same nave, as the consecration to the bishopric of a gay man severed me from the church in which she and I worshiped side by side. A man divided us. Another divides us again.
Why do I write against Barack Obama? Because he is not just a man: he is a dividing line. He is not just the proponent of political, social and cultural ideas: he is the incarnation of those ideas. He is a flash-point, a line of demarcation, a litmus test. How you view this man defines your status, your group identity, and even your value. Or so I've noticed.
It is a mere distraction to talk as if Barack Obama is just another politician. He isn't. People have never talked of an American politician as they have of this man. People have never ascribed so much promise to a mere man in the White House like they have with Barack Obama. He is the incarnation of more than the body politic. If you listen closely, he's the hope of the whole world (and his wife is the "First Lady the World's Been Waiting For").
Like my elderly friend, I, too, might regret the anger I've succumbed to since the election of someone with whom I so profoundly disagree. But my anger is not really directed at Barack Obama. I am actually angry at a specific group of people who helped him get into the Oval Office: I am angry at my Christian brothers and sisters who voted for this man. I am angry at my "evangelical," orthodox and Catholic brothers and sisters who set aside wisdom for some pop-culture affectation of change, tolerance, diversity and hope. I am angry because my Christian siblings seemed utterly indifferent to the role deception, false hopes and idolatry play on those who have not known the Savior Christians claim is essential to a truly healthy life. I am angry because a man who was so clearly presented as a competing savior was nonetheless received as a breath of fresh air by those who should know better. I am angry Christians should agree with the near-obsessive idea that materialism and consumerism are the remedy necessary to heal the poor. I am angry that Christians failed to predict that Barack Obama's presidency would be, and has been, solely fixated on wealth and money and "fairness"; that he would peddle the idolatry of goods and services, enslaving the weak and needy, telling them in words of alleged compassion that they are effectively second-class and unfulfilled because they are not at least "middle class." I am angry that my Christian friends would turn the other cheek to such crass materialism and hidden greed; I am angry they would not see the cynical attitude that works behind the curtain of beneficence; I am angry that they failed to understand the slavery of charity.
And I am angry at those Christians who campaigned for Mr. Obama would dismiss challenges against him by suggesting that "there are bigger problems" facing us than such trivialities. You've heard this trope, this deceptive trope: People get too hung up about trivial things, like gay marriage or the size of the stimulus or the beginning of life, when there are so many more important issues that need addressing. Never, of course, will you find anyone who makes this argument offer to give up their trivial support of gay marriage, abortion, or the size of the stimulus in order to finally deal with the big issues of the day. Imagine the outcry if gay rights activists were to say, "There are bigger issues than gay marriage; let us set it aside for now so we can tackle X and Y and Z." We will never hear such an outcry, because these things are THE BIG ISSUES of the day; and because we know that these represent a battle about life's most essential things, things comprising what it means to be human and moral. It is an obscene argument to make -- and yet I hear Christians make it all the time.
I see obscenity where others see leadership. Where others see wisdom, I see absurdity. Where some hear a sacred call, I hear blasphemy. I can't help it. It's who I am.
Christians, of all people, have one duty: to fight deception of the sort that damns souls, that blinds them to their true God. I believe deception is afoot. Many of my Christian brothers and sisters do not. It's a paradox we'll have to live with ... for now.
Peace through dissent.
PS. No, I am not for one second suggesting that John McCain was the more "Christian" choice.
©2009/Contratimes. All Rights Reserved.
I am glad for her. She is a sweet lady. It used to hurt me to see how much she suffered. I had seen her a few times crying in church; when I'd approach her to extend my sympathy, she'd actually denounce then-President Bush through her tears and clenched teeth. But that was some time ago. We no longer genuflect and sing in the same nave, as the consecration to the bishopric of a gay man severed me from the church in which she and I worshiped side by side. A man divided us. Another divides us again.
Why do I write against Barack Obama? Because he is not just a man: he is a dividing line. He is not just the proponent of political, social and cultural ideas: he is the incarnation of those ideas. He is a flash-point, a line of demarcation, a litmus test. How you view this man defines your status, your group identity, and even your value. Or so I've noticed.
It is a mere distraction to talk as if Barack Obama is just another politician. He isn't. People have never talked of an American politician as they have of this man. People have never ascribed so much promise to a mere man in the White House like they have with Barack Obama. He is the incarnation of more than the body politic. If you listen closely, he's the hope of the whole world (and his wife is the "First Lady the World's Been Waiting For").
Like my elderly friend, I, too, might regret the anger I've succumbed to since the election of someone with whom I so profoundly disagree. But my anger is not really directed at Barack Obama. I am actually angry at a specific group of people who helped him get into the Oval Office: I am angry at my Christian brothers and sisters who voted for this man. I am angry at my "evangelical," orthodox and Catholic brothers and sisters who set aside wisdom for some pop-culture affectation of change, tolerance, diversity and hope. I am angry because my Christian siblings seemed utterly indifferent to the role deception, false hopes and idolatry play on those who have not known the Savior Christians claim is essential to a truly healthy life. I am angry because a man who was so clearly presented as a competing savior was nonetheless received as a breath of fresh air by those who should know better. I am angry Christians should agree with the near-obsessive idea that materialism and consumerism are the remedy necessary to heal the poor. I am angry that Christians failed to predict that Barack Obama's presidency would be, and has been, solely fixated on wealth and money and "fairness"; that he would peddle the idolatry of goods and services, enslaving the weak and needy, telling them in words of alleged compassion that they are effectively second-class and unfulfilled because they are not at least "middle class." I am angry that my Christian friends would turn the other cheek to such crass materialism and hidden greed; I am angry they would not see the cynical attitude that works behind the curtain of beneficence; I am angry that they failed to understand the slavery of charity.
And I am angry at those Christians who campaigned for Mr. Obama would dismiss challenges against him by suggesting that "there are bigger problems" facing us than such trivialities. You've heard this trope, this deceptive trope: People get too hung up about trivial things, like gay marriage or the size of the stimulus or the beginning of life, when there are so many more important issues that need addressing. Never, of course, will you find anyone who makes this argument offer to give up their trivial support of gay marriage, abortion, or the size of the stimulus in order to finally deal with the big issues of the day. Imagine the outcry if gay rights activists were to say, "There are bigger issues than gay marriage; let us set it aside for now so we can tackle X and Y and Z." We will never hear such an outcry, because these things are THE BIG ISSUES of the day; and because we know that these represent a battle about life's most essential things, things comprising what it means to be human and moral. It is an obscene argument to make -- and yet I hear Christians make it all the time.
I see obscenity where others see leadership. Where others see wisdom, I see absurdity. Where some hear a sacred call, I hear blasphemy. I can't help it. It's who I am.
Christians, of all people, have one duty: to fight deception of the sort that damns souls, that blinds them to their true God. I believe deception is afoot. Many of my Christian brothers and sisters do not. It's a paradox we'll have to live with ... for now.
Peace through dissent.
PS. No, I am not for one second suggesting that John McCain was the more "Christian" choice.
©2009/Contratimes. All Rights Reserved.
4 comments:
I shall come back for a longer comment later, my friend. In the meantime, I wish you and yours well until your return to the Blogiverse.
Cheers, Bill.
I too have seen such elation (Obamalation) in my church family.
Let them wander around in the purple haze for the time being.
Have a lovely Lent.
I look forward to your return to regular blogging, Bill. You are one of the best writers in the "blogosphere", and you deserve a much larger audience. I might not always agree with you, but I sincerely admire you. I only wish I could write and express my thoughts as well as you.
R. Sherman, is the "blogiverse" larger than the "blogosphere"? Just wondering.
Thank you for your stark honesty, your willingness to state your opinion. Don't you feel that we have to look over our backs when we are commenting about our "conservative views and opinions?"
Happy Holidays
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