Since the days of Aristotle, Cicero and later Machiavelli the world has endeavored to develop a working knowledge of political science that might be instrumental in bringing about a way to govern that is fair and acceptable to almost everyone universally.
Arguably democracy has drawn the closest to fulfilling the quest but it is fraught with problems because of what we in theology call “the human condition.” The Bible describes it as the sinful nature of mankind. It is what infiltrates into the affairs of men on every level, the job, the marriage, the nation and it wreaks havoc with our stability even as it seems to steal the thunder from every great advance of mankind.
Sadly, the Bible predicts that it only tends to get worse as civilization expands and reaches a peak in which man thinks he can pull a worldwide government together and figuratively live “happily ever after.” It follows directly on the heels of a worldwide penchant to dismiss the reality of God or at least neutralize his authority by a sort of universal or worldwide mind meld of all religions. Scriptural prophecies warn that this “apostasy” will not end well.
It is born in an era when something distracts men on a worldwide scale; it is a time of supreme confidence in our own ability to fix everything without acknowledging the condition of man. Be it science, adherence to politically motivated saviors, wishful thinking or weariness with war and economic disparity the prophetic assures us we will try it anyway. Prophecy also assures us that it will fail.
The generation that is pure in its own eyes is content to wait for the anthropologists and Darwinists to finally discover the millions of conspicuously missing links in the evolutionary construct. We wait for the political scientists to pinpoint and identify the one ideology and the one ruler who fits the bill and will lead us to utopia. We wait for medical science to lead us into a disease free world where everyone is in perfect health. We wait on the ecologist to tell us how to save our planet and keep it perpetually green and productive. We wait for propulsion scientists to produce a vehicle that will take us to other worlds where man can assure himself of perpetuity and some kind of collective eternal life among the stars. We are indeed that generation the Bible speaks of in Proverbs 30:12, “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”
We ignore the Savior of the world and replace him with a plurality religions and moral codes that we make up as we go along. We do everything we can to avoid an empty wallet or bank account while never noticing the void in our hearts. We keep our eyes and ears well tuned to the pulse of our own cultural norms to see if we are all on the same page and as if by the power of collective consent we allow our acceptance of it to determine our morality and ethical values. Still: no stability.
We tamper with history, but because we have dismissed the fallen nature of man we tend to only repeat our mistakes decade after decade, century after century and millennia after millennia. Only a small number of people ever reach that purposeful place of near despair and cry out like the Apostle Paul and say, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7: 24)
Only the rarest souls can see that when we come to the end of our strength we are catapulted into the realm of real power. Only the rarest souls can understand what Christ meant by the words, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15: 5)
Of late America has decided to tamper with or force its own history to morph into the image of its own making. Whether it was guilt that motivated whites to pull the lever in the voting booth for Barack Obama or some noble notion that it was time for post racist America to have a black President would be hard to accurately determine. It is a bit easier to determine why blacks pulled the lever because they were surely ready for it to be their time. Regardless of the motives it could have turned out to be a time of national pride for all of us, so what has gone wrong?
Perhaps it is too bad that Mr. Obama came in a time when the prevailing attitude in America is to choose only what is culturally acceptable rather than what is noble, good for the nation and attached firmly to the constitution and the vision of the founding fathers. The “American Idol” mentality has assured us that only the successful, famous or rich need apply and the only perquisite is that you look good and sound good. Who would have ever thought that “tall dark and handsome” would be elevated to a requirement for office?
Ideologies, background, character, Americanism, constitutional understanding and a deep love for the American people are qualities and traits that have been tabled for the magic of personal charisma and appearance. By ignoring the real condition of man for so long we have been duped into believing that you can after all; judge a book by its cover.
Most Americans could care less what color Mr. Obama is, but they do care how American he is. This is where the scales are tipped against him. Apologizing to the world for America, bowing to kings of other nations and carrying on in a grand pugilistic confrontation with American people involved in free enterprise and government of, for and by the people is what has un-nerved even the most complacent among us.
In the common vernacular (street language) Mr. Obama is no homie. In fact, until the question of his true place of birth is answered were not even sure he is an American. We may want to call birthers a bunch of dopes who thrive on conspiracy theories but the truth is that the birth certificate and almost all of Mr. Obama’s school and other records remain sealed up like Fort Knox as if there was something to hide.
Perhaps there is nothing at all to worry about, but who could prove that? It isn’t what we see that is all that we worry about with this President it is also what we don’t see. No doubt Mr. Obama doesn’t take the scripture too seriously but if he did the first passage we might hope he considers is “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 21, 22)
Questions of his place of birth aside, what we have is a man who didn’t attend Roosevelt High School in some town USA but was taught in Madrassa schools in Indonesia, has foreign born parents and a history of relationships with radical people who won’t ever be thought of as mainstream Americans.
While we can thank God we finally have crossed into post racist times with our first black President it just doesn’t seem like he is one of us. Perhaps he is not even one of our own blacks like Martin Luther King who left a legacy instead of a trail of doubt and disdain. King fought for America not against it and proved in so doing that black Americans have the same grit as any of our best American heroes, innovators, statesmen, scientist, preachers and politicians.
He does not exude the intense convictions and patriotism of Alan Keyes or the political clarity of author Kevin Jackson. He calls on science to resolve problems in the environment and our system of education but he lacks the natural savvy of sable genius, Benjamin Bannecker.
He has lost the rap with millions of Americans by opposing immigration problems, drilling for oil, Wall Street, free enterprise, reasonable and affordable healthcare reform and just about everything else that is important to us. He has used the Democratic Party as his personal whip to beat Americans into submission to his policies and, his appointments look like a list of names extracted from the book of “who’s who” in radical thinking and socialism. There is little doubt he ain’t no homie.
Those who have made comparisons to Obama’s meteoric rise and Hitler have been criticized and rebuked but there are at least some similarities in both. Hitler promised “change” but that is where the similarities end. Hitler appealed to the pride of Germany and promised that they could return to their former glory. Mr. Obama seems to berate and despise the exceptionalism of America and offers apologies to our allies and enemies as proof that Americans have little to be proud of in his thinking.
Will history adjust itself or will we tinker with it once again. It seems a sure bet that those who pull the levers in 2010 will not just be tinkering but rather, they will be sending out the message that America still has a great deal of pride and will not be swept away by the flights of fancy produced by someone who can’t even prove he has homey status.
In 2012 America may make different choices as well. It is then we might try to alter history once again with someone who has a love for America, a strong faith in God and the Bible, integrity and honesty, and the ability to weed through differences between right and wrong that Americans have nurtured so long, but of late have forgotten.
We may elect someone who would never have been considered in times past, someone whose time has come. That sounds a lot like Sarah Palin to me. Maybe it’s time for a Madam President to shake and shape American history. That’s change we really can believe in. If history has proven anything it is that you can make history with an authentic homie or a good old fashioned American woman.
Be it male or female, or from a troubled inner city ghetto or frozen tundra, African American or Native American, we are long past the days when this matters at all. We have not gone past the place where we want someone who doesn’t fervently love this nation and respect its people.
http://www.americanprophet.org has since 2005 featured the articles of columnist Rev Michael Bresciani along with news and reviews that have earned this site the title of The Website for Insight Millions have read his timely reports and articles in online journals and print publications across the nation and the globe.
Keywords:
Madam President, Palin, homie, King, whip, post racist, Alan Keyes, Kevin Jackson, madrassa, birthers, Benjamin Bannecker, black heroes, street language, Aristotle, political science, human condition, Obama’s school, socialism, exceptionalism, tinker, Roosevelt High, Indonesia, Rap, personal whip, Sarah Palin, integrity, meteoric rise, meteoric, American Idol, Thessalonians, Proverbs 30:12, Romans 7:24, John 15:5, pugilistic, 1 Thessalonians 5: 21, 22, appearance of evil, Bible, Wall Street, apostasy, plurality, cultural norms, Cicero, Machiavelli