On occasion, I'll listen to a midmorning conservative talk show here in Nashville. We'll call the host Mike.
Yesterday, there was an author on talking about the Obama cult of personality. And he literally said that he hasn't seen stuff like Obama's power over people since Hitler or Stalin or Mussolini. (palm to face)
A couple of weeks ago, I was listening and they played Obama's speech in Berlin and Mike would make commentary during the speech on occasion, making comments like "Is the running for president of the world?" and topping it off with "I seriously think he might be the antichrist." (Head into steering wheel)
OK look. I understand that conservatives don't like Obama because, well, they're conservatives. They accuse him of socialism and playing the race card and being an empty suit and many other things like that. And that's fine. Unfortunately it's par for the course.
However...
When you bust out the mass murdering dictators card and when you lay down the dispensational eschatology (belief that the rise of the antichrist will bring about the rapture and Jesus' return) on a candidate, you've gone past political commentary into the realm of the unChristian. Which is important, because Mike claims to be a committed Christian who is outraged at how the "radical homosexual left" is tearing down the fabric of society and that he has to fight for conservative values. And apparently part of being a committed Christian is tearing into Barack Obama when he mentions tire gauges and the environment (I think that's in the book of First Hezekiah).
Look, I don't agree with everything Obama espouses or everything McCain talks about. I'm not even sure how much I trust how much either of them are saying, since I tend to not trust politicians when their mouths are moving. But even if I were in the sludge pit known as conservative talk radio, to compare someone to Hitler or say that they could be the antiChrist is beyond the pale. If you want to talk about a cult of personality, compare them to FDR or JFK or RWR (Ronald Wilson Reagan [wait, each of his names has 6 letters in it: 666; maybe Reagan was the antiChrist {j/k}]). If you want to say that someone is more interested in the opinions of the world than those of the United States, say that. But calling someone the antiChrist... It was mind blowing.
Besides, Obama can't be the antiChrist; his last name isn't Carpathia.
Addendum: Apparently, I'm way behind the curve on this Obama=AntiChrist thing. Check out these Google results for Obama antichrist.
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11 comments:
Nor is he the Messiah eh? :)
Well said. I completely agree. First Hezekiah rocks, in my opinion. It's a great read.
(incoming sarcasm)
But Phil, how in the world would people like "Mike" be able to express their faith if it weren't for politics?
I've been bombarded with Obama "antichrist" e-mails for the past 6 months. We even have a member of our church sending e-mails asking people to specifically pray that Obama does not get elected or "America will be led to ruin". It's amazing the fear and anger that surrounds Obama on one side and the love and worship (and I use that word seriously) on the other. He is truly a polarizing figure. The next few months will be extremely interesting!
-Lance
I hope you've seen my own contributions to this subject. I also have a round up of my posts on the subject...
Well at least now we have Paris running as the middle of the road option
That is so weird, Dr. McGrath. I was just on your blog this morning, watching the Ron Moore BSG Religion talk.
He inspires.
Excellent communicator.
And even a celebrity like Brittney Spears, Paris Hilton.
What about McCain being a celeb. He has been in movies (Wedding Crashers), and was on SNL.
I'm so tired of politics.
Can't wait for Nov.
I think it is awful the way the Christian right behaves at times. Not much Christian in the actions and words.
I don't agree with Obama on several points, but some things I like. But I agree he is not the anti-Christ and I don't live in fear of muslim takeover or any other wild disaster supposition.
I would hope our system is better than to allow that to happen.
Lots of Christians are certainly behaving like Christians aren't they?? It's absolutely sickening. And when did it become so bad for the "world" to like you? That seems like a good trait for a president to me. GWB has made so many enemies worldwide. No one trusts us anymore. And contrary to popular conservative beliefs, that's a really important thing.
. . . to ask others to pray for torrential downpours on the night of Obama's speach at Mile High Stadium, as Focus on the Family's Stuart Shepard has done. Not like I think a shepherd should be.
It is stuff like that that makes me sad and should cause shame for all Christians.
In total contrast to how a local church in Nashville once acted toward protesters. The XXX Church.com group came to speak at a local community church. Of course you had some hard-core, right wing Christians who picketed and protested outside this church. It was very hot weather. The church provided some shelter and gave them water and refreshments.
Now that is how a Christian should act to those that they disagree with.
Our government has been in the control of the conservative right for over 20 years now. Even Clinton had a Republican controlled House and Senate. So the Christian right has had what it wants in gov't and they're still railing against everything.
And for the last 8 years we have had our 2nd savior in GWB, but look at the mess. (I must apologize to my fellowman as I voted for him--twice; sorry everyone!)
Christians should follow Christ. We can do that regardless of who is elected. That should be our focus--behave like Christ.
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