The Messiah Ticket

Catholic Exchange ^ | March 5, 2008 | Thomas N. Peters

[NYer]

I've been closely watching the struggle for the democratic presidential nomination between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It has struck me that Clinton seems to be powerless against "Obamamania." There are many factors — mostly negative ones against Clinton as opposed to positive reasons for Obama — but I think there is something more fundamental happening as well.

Much of the Obama phenomenon has been described as "Obama messianism." The overall effect of his trend is well-documented by the weblog http://www.obamamessiah.blogspot.com/. It is this secular messianism which is really what Clinton cannot beat. The antidote to the secular messianism of Obama is the not the simple secularism of Clinton. It is, instead, something deeper than politics, and something Clinton is absolutely unable to deliver, and maybe cannot apprehend, namely, that the only true messianism is represented by the person of Jesus Christ.

Think about it a moment. The state without religion must fill the vacuum religion leaves in the human heart. Take, for instance, the Romans. Rome was once a republic, but ended as an empire, with an emperor, and he was divine (with some qualifications, but the point is clear enough). Consider also the cult of personality which surrounded Marx and Lenin in the communist regimes. Politics without faith becomes a faith in itself, but it is hard to hold up banners that read "America" (or harder still, "the State") and get excited about it. Every movement needs a figurehead, and for American secularists, it is Obama. But this figurehead is more than a figurehead, he is a pawn in a wider movement for now, but after the election he will no longer be strictly beholden to the popular sentiments which propelled him past Clinton.

And that is why Clinton cannot win. She does not have in her advisory arsenal, or personal formation, a response to Obamas' specific secularism which takes into account the intangible desire in the human heart to be saved, and led, and powerfully so. She is unlikely to look at Obama and say "He is not your savior — Christ is!" If anything, she might say something like "He is not your savior, the state is!", or "welfare is!", or ... it really does not matter — none of those types of answers work quite the same way as a charismatic, flesh-and-blood personification of this desire.

Hillary's inability to answer Obama comes at a time when America can no longer answer Obama itself. The rule that classical religious affiliation is a rough gauge of political opinion is breaking down almost as fast as the tendency of Americans to stay a member of the religion they were born into, as the recent Pew Forum Survey suggests. Into this vacuum, opposing secularist mindsets are becoming an ever more potent (anti-)force in American political opinion. As a result, America has lost much of its common sense about these things. Ignorance of history, apathy about identity, and uneasiness about where America is heading does not help matters either. And unfortunately, bad times rarely result in good decision making, or clear thinking.

With this in mind, we should not be concerned that Obama is winning, or that Hillary is losing. We should be concerned that America is choosing Obama above Hillary, because at least in choosing Hillary they are choosing someone they think would be a competent administrator of the public trust. With Obama, however, one could argue that people are choosing someone they think is not necessarily a competent administrator of the public trust, but rather someone they hope represents the definitive solution to all of America's pressing problems.

That is a far more lofty expectation, and a type of hope that Obama cannot ultimately fulfill. But that will not stop him from becoming President, because everyone wants to vote for Jesus.

[NYer]

Thomas N. Peters is pursuing graduate studies in theology and works in Washington, DC. He received a Masters degree from Sacred Heart Major Seminary as a lay student. He regularly blogs at www.americanpapist.com.

© Copyright 2008 Catholic Exchange

[NYer]

Ping

[hosepipe]

How does the Queen of Hearts say;..
Yeah hes a Marxist like me, but he is a black Marxist..

[syriacus]

Maybe some Democrats are "in love with" Obama because they are ashamed of being associated with the Clintons.

Think of Obama as the rebound beloved of a teenager.

[GraniteStateConservative]

It is this secular messianism which is really what Clinton cannot beat.

He should have waited until today to write this missive. Hillary is doing just fine beating Obama and the superdelegates will seal the deal.

[DallasDeb]

Just read on another thread that Catholics, who make up 25% of the American population, accounts for 25% of the primary voters and most of them have voted for Hitlary.

[Iris7]

I believe Obama sometimes wonders if he is INDEED the Mahdi - or at least believes he channels the Hidden Imam. Seriously.

[verga]

Just read on another thread that Catholics, who make up 25% of the American population, accounts for 25% of the primary voters and most of them have voted for Hitlary.

These 25% are made up of two groups. The first is Catholics in name only, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, etc....

The second group are those people like my Mother and Mother in Law. These ea Catholics born during the early and mid 1900's, they grew up during the depression. The Democrats stood for family value, supported the Church, and unions. They were perceived as being for the common man. These people grew up with FDR at the helm.

These people did not leave the Democrat party, the party left them.

As much as you try to tell them they will not listen to reason. They will be true to the party that is no longer true to them or their core values.

[Appleby]

Disclose the Puppeteer is what I say. I believe Obama is being, um, seduced by someone who is filling his head with this Messiah stuff and leading the poor naive schlump into the belief that when the Puppet is installed as President, the Puppeteer will share power with him.

Guess when he saw Lord of the Rings he did not pay much attention to what happened to Saruman.

P.S. I certainly hope the Puppeteer is not encouraging him to name Hillary his VP. I would not want to be the only man standing between her and the Presidency.