Recently, I have been posting quite a bit of criticism on McCain. He is most likely going to be the Republican candidate for the president of the United States, and I think because of it, people should know full well who he is and who it is they are supporting if they vote for him. Many people think that my criticism suggests I am Democrat and that I support a Democratic candidate.
Let me make this clear. I do not support the Republicans. I do not support the Democrats. I think any of the major candidates we have campaigning for the presidency would be terrible for our nation if elected. Each of them do have some good qualities about them. No one is purely bad. But none of them, from what I see, has enough of the good needed to counterbalance the evil they support. And that means we are, as a nation, in for a hell of a time.
Like many great men and women before me, I cannot support people who look for political office. People who want it, for the most part, are the people who should be forbidden from holding such office. Of course, the way the system is set up, the people who should be elected for office will never be considered, and those who want the power will find the means to convince people to give it to them.
Understanding this problem, I am always going to be critical of politicians. I think so many people are quick to support a specific candidate that they are unwilling to engage the problems associated with their candidate. People say there is a cult of personality around Obama; perhaps there is, but it is no different from the cult of personality around any candidate. At least, we find it with any candidate who has a chance of winning a political fight.
Obama has a lot of charisma. This is not a good thing, this is not a bad thing, this is just how things are. Because of it, however, and because it has thrust him into a leadership position in our nation (whether or not he becomes President, he has become one of our leaders, and we must accept that, just as much as McCain is one of our leaders now), there is a price he has to pay for it. He must make sure he uses it for the good, and not just for selfish gain. He must be willing to sacrifice personal desires for the sake of the nation. If he is not willing to do that, then his charisma is a danger to us all. Charismatic leaders tend to either inspire a nation to move forward to great, new heights or to terrible, new lows. It tends to be one or the other. Some charismatic leaders have, in recent times, led people to new lows (such as Chavez); it would be terrible to judge Obama based upon those failures. It would also be wrong to judge Obama based upon the successes of a Washington, a Lincoln, or even an F.D.R. The reason for this is simple: it is far too premature to judge Obama to know which direction he would lead the nation.
But one can have guesses. These guesses do not have to be judgment calls. They should be open for refutation and change. And here, I will put out why I don’t support Obama. I do understand why people do, and I think some of their reasons are justified (at least, as justified as any reasons people use to vote for any candidate). And I will defend them in their judgments if people make accusations against them and their decisions which are invalid (like saying one who votes for Obama makes them pro-abortion; they might be, but voting for Obama would not in itself make it so).
How do I understand Obama’s mystique? He has a way of capturing a part of our nation’s heritage, of echoing our “soul.” For good or for ill, his “yes we can” captures the Calvinistic work ethic and uses it to encourage a kind of American exceptionism. Yes, Obama shares in America’s Calvinism just as much as the Republicans. Americans are proud of their nation, and feel that being born here in itself means we are made for greatness. We are led to believe in our greatness. Obama has tapped into this spirit. He is trying to use it to motivate America. Motivate it for what, some people might ask? Surprisingly, many of the platitudes he gives are similar to the platitudes of GW Bush. They sound like the reasons Bush used as he sent troops into Iraq: Freedom, Equality, Justice. These truly are good things, but they are relative goods; they can easily idolized and turned from the goods they should be to evils. In this way, people are right in being weary of Obama, but it should not end with Obama, but it should be a weariness for all politicians. One needs to ask, what exactly is it Obama wants to do behind all of these platitudes (just like, one needs to ask, what exactly did GW Bush want to do with his as he used them for the invasion of Iraq)? Both of them, I believe, in their hearts, believe they want what is good; but, all one needs to do is look at history to see how these three rallying cries have led to great evils before, and so can do so again (just think of the French and Russian Revolutions).
From my point of view, much of Obama’s speeches and noted policies indicates he is as much as an idolater as GW Bush. Being pro-choice is not the same as being pro-abortion (just as being pro-choice in embryonic stem cell research is not the same as being pro federal funding of embryonic stem cell research). But even thinking that abortion should be permissible is a great error. So from the get go, Obama’s freedom and justice is freedom and justice for some, not for all. But this is no different from GW Bush or McCain. It is no different from the politics we find in the land we live in. It is wrong, but it demonstrates the cruel center of the American political system. The culture of death provides for it its foundations; and this culture of death needs to be overcome if we want the system itself to be fixed.
If Obama were elected president, I see two things. First, I do not see him as being a strong president. I do not think he is as equipped to handle Washington as he needs to be to change things on a political level. On the other hand, I do think his Calvinistically inspired “yes we can” message will inspire people to move beyond politics and governmental solutions, to finding solutions for themselves. This is probably the best thing we would get from an Obama presidency (although, I also expect he would be a better diplomat than GW Bush). However, it is difficult to know if this good will be worth the spiritual rot which I also foresee would come in an Obama-inspired society. For his idolatrous holding onto freedom will let continue to open up some of the most perverted tendencies and desires, telling people it is ok to follow them, with the suggestion that this is what freedom is about. This is not anything new to him. It is the rot of the American system. It just will become more prevalent. I do not know if a Republican here would do any better, though they might slow the tide for a little while. As such, I cannot say Obama would be good for the nation, since I think he will help push our people into greater licentiousness. But looking beyond an Obama presidency (which I think would only last for four years, like Carter), I think the licentiousness he will open up will eventually come to an end; evil is not infinite; the few good seeds from an Obama presidency could, in the very long run, work to create a better nation (there is no pure evil, and there is much which is good in the policies of any candidate). If these goods which are being used by him are allowed to thrive and not be ridiculed, in the long run, after him, in part thanks to him, but still in spite of him, we could have the spiritual renaissance we need as nation. And this is why I would also say one should criticize him for his policies not for the way Obama can inspire people. For that inspiration is indeed something we need to work our way out of the culture of death, and Pope Benedict has shown us, just like Obama, how central hope must be for that work to be done.
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