Change We Can Believe In?

Yes, we can! Make it to the Promised Land!
Yes, we can! I know we can!
Yes, we can

The above excerpt is taken from the chorus of a recently written song. Based on the overt religious imagery in the lyrics, you might think that I heard it in church or on Christian radio. And you would be wrong. The lyrics above are from a song released a couple of weeks ago by Boy George about Barak Obama. This is just one of the more recent examples in what is quickly becoming one of the most troubling aspects of the Obama campaign: the candidate's messianic status among many of his followers.

This isn't confined to a few goofy songs or fawning celebrities. In a recent column on Townhall.com, Michael Medved goes into detail on the cult like aspects of some parts of the Obama campaign. Obamaphiles are changing their middle names to Hussein to match their leader. Actor Eric Christian Olsen is quoted as saying, “Nothing is more fundamentally powerful than how I felt when I met [Obama].” Obama is described by a columnist for a major newspaper as a "lightworker." And that's not even going into the secular aspects of the media bias surrounding this candidate (remember Chris Matthews crying on air after Obama lost one of the primaries?)

The obvious objection to this is, "So what? Every campaign has a few nutjobs surrounding it. You can't blame Obama for other people's actions." And I would agree with that were it not for the fact that the Obama campaign is blatantly encouraging this type of behavior and this level of devotion.

Driving home last night, Annie and I passed a car with a bumper sticker that said "Got Hope?" At first, both of us thought it was a Christian sticker with the obvious message being that faith in Jesus is the way to get hope. Not so. As we got closer I saw the official Obama campaign logo and the Obama website in small type at the bottom of the sticker. After a little research at home I found out that these bumper stickers, and matching t-shirts, are being sold on the official Obama website.

There is only one way to interpret that slogan: without Obama we don't have hope. That message is frightening in its implications. My hope is not in Barak Obama or John McCain. My hope is not in politics at all. My hope is in Christ and Christ alone. Obama is a man and nothing more. Even if he is elected and turns out to be a great president, he still will not be the source of hope. I had hope long before he came along and I'll have hope long after he's passed into history.

One of Obama's most famous lines throughout this campaign has been, "We are the ones we've been waiting for." My response is, "I certainly hope not." Here again we are confronted by staggering implications. Anytime throughout history that a political figure has made this sort of statement disaster has followed. I hesitate to give examples because I do not want to give the false impression that I'm equating Obama to any of these men but Napoleon, Stalin and Hitler all came with a similar message. Again, I am not saying Obama, his policies or his campagin are any way representative of the evil of Communism or Nazism. Anyone who does equate Obama with Hitler or Stalin is a fool and has no business commenting on politics. But what I am saying is that history provides us with several examples of leaders who came with similar messages and the results are never good.

Obama's arrogance also lends itself to encouraging the Obama cult. Charles Krauthammer has a must read article on the subject. A brief excerpt:

[Talking about himself] is a subject upon which he can dilate effortlessly. In his victory speech upon winning the nomination, Obama declared it a great turning point in history -- "generations from now we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment" -- when, among other wonders, "the rise of the oceans began to slow." As economist Irwin Stelzer noted in his London Daily Telegraph column, "Moses made the waters recede, but he had help." Obama apparently works alone.

I am stunned by the arrogance in that statement. But it goes on from there. Obama tells us we need to teach our children to speak Spanish but neglects to mention that he himself does not speak the language. Obama expects us to believe that he is a deeply commited Christian but that he so rarely attended his church that until a few months ago he was completely clueless that his pastor was spewing anti American venom from the pulpit. Michelle Obama claims that the Obama campaign marks the first time she's ever been proud of America, as though it alone can redeem the sins of slavery and segregation.

Finally, I would blame the rise of the Obama cult on contemporary liberalism. I am not now discussing the virtues and vices of government social programs but after 75 years of liberals sending the message that we ought to depend on government, not as a last resort but as a first, for all our material needs, is it really surprising that a cult like following has sprung up around the most liberal man ever to run for the presidency?

Obama talks a lot about bringing people together but if this is what we are uniting around, count me out. Obama talks about change but if this is what we are changing to I cannot be a part of it. He talks about hope but when I see the effects of his campaign I feel fear. I do not wish to paint with too broad a brush. I am sure that most Obama supporters do not buy into the cult side of the campaign. But I'm not convinced Obama is among that majority. I believe he has bought into himself. He believes he is the answer, the source of hope and the one we've all been waiting for. I find that terrifying. That is change I cannot and will not believe in.