If you don't think rock-star adulation at a Barack Obama event is cause for concern, read this copious account: Barack Obama criticised over 'cult-like' rallies. In the article, a senior Obama advisor, speaking anonymously, expresses fear that some of the cult-like charges against Obama will stick during the campaign.
There are some important answers to this concern and I hope that some of Barack's advisors like David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs will find their way to this page. The first antidote to this charge is to face it head on. And I mean head on. And sooner than later.
The article mentions Joe Klein's reference to "mass messianism" and the dangers of going beyond hope.
Dr Sean Wilentz, a Princeton historian and stern critic of the current administration of George W.Bush, said: “What’s troubling about the campaign is that it’s gone beyond hope and change to redemption.”
I am qualified to speak on this matter. My books Jesus and Jim Jones and Beyond Creed: From Religion to Spirituality carefully examine the deleterious aspects of messianism. So please read on.
In a nutshell, under the guise of promising massive social and personal change, messianism seeks the allegiance, loyalty and self-abnegation of the follower. The messiah figure literally devours his or her adherents.
Now I do not think Obama wishes to devour his followers and as I read between the lines of the Samantha Powers video with Charlie Rose, I suspect Obama himself is privately dismissive of the adulation he receives. (Her passing Iowa-heads reference.)
But anyone who has ever plied the waters of prominence and frequent public speaking is aware of the the tendency of some to become inappropriately worshipful. A Simple Set of Ways Obama Can Address Inappropriate AdulationHumor. I would hope that very soon Obama will address the cult of personality issue with humor.
Self-deprecation is evidently part of Barack's personal discourse.
He needs to apply this to himself in his public speeches.
To wit: "I am not a messiah wannabe. I don't want disciples. I don't seek worship. I am not asking people to lose themselves in an amorphous sea of feel good excitement. I ask people to stand on their own two feet, to start taking responsibility, to work hand and hand with their neighbors to renew our life and our politics."
Here are some useful principles:
No single person can set things right.
We are not talking about miracles.
We have pulled together before in our history.
Some specific caveats that help defuse the messianic aura:
Say something against "wishful thinking". Such as: I am not in the wishful thinking business. I am in the let's get the job done business.
Say, it's not us against them. We are the establishment. We are all meant to be part of it.
Born in NYC, attended Oberlin & Trinity Schools, then Exeter and Williams (Phi Beta Kappa 1958). Worked with the Reverend James Robinson, finished Union Theological Seminary in NYC (1961). Joined Student Interracial Ministry in Nashville. Founded Renewal Magazine in Chicago, served The Christian Century and Christianity Crisis magazines. Covered civil rights in Oxford, Birmingham and Selma. Interviewed Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X. My book The Grass Roots Church had impact on the ecumenical movement. Have authored some 15 books, been a house-husband and father of three wonderful (grown) children. I have written published music choral and popular. Most recently I served in UN agencies including UNICEF in NYC and edited CHOICES which was the flagship magazine of UNDP.
POOH!! These are just attacks by the right wing. What is wrong with Obama having millions show up for rallies? Those are votes! I guess protestants don't like the competition with tele-evangelism, and jews are uncomfortable with the specter of Nuremberg. Obama is the only one that can articulate the hopes dreams and aspirations of millions after the shameful spectacle of the neocons. He is a fresh breeze after the American people have been forced to crawl through the sewer that is the Bush regime. Of course people are excited. They should be. The Venezuelan oligarchy also said Chavez had a "Messianic complex" These criticisms stink of CIA misinformation. They are a shitty little attempt to dampen legitimate enthusiasm. They follow an agenda. Go Obama!
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Guajolotl (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 132 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 5:17:39 PM
If you visit my blog at http://stephencrosehome.blogspot.com you will find that I am for Obama. There is nothing wrong with rallies. Never suggested there was. I am simply trying to warn AGAINST these attacks by suggesting the warning signs. Best, S
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Stephen C. Rose (35 articles, 64 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 56 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 6:52:23 PM
Barack's wife does a good job of making him "human"
She is a great campaigner from what I've seen on TV. Folksy. And very intelligent.
At times I've seen him cast a little fun at himself. In a debate, I think it was, where someone acclaimed his success in becoming US Senator. He explained there wasn't much competition. I think he has a good sense of humor. But his first book tells me more, especially since it was written before he became so well known. There is a hint of needing to come past the community activist (organizer they call it now). He was not fond of the Alinsky model, but on the other hand he was too young to grasp the mood of Chicago in the 60s. Counter to that was how he felt about City Hall after the Harold Washington was reelected. If one could ask him what he learned during his time at Altgeld Gardens, I wonder if he would recognize that organizing can end up being the top/down style pundits say he is not.
I was in a near suburb of Chicago during the 60s and 70s and realize that working with churches was the way to go both for political causes like the ABM treaty and inter-racial fellowship. The church I worked with was well aware of what Ken Smith was doing at Trinity UC of C. I have some concern that the Senator will be judged by the socially progressive stance the denomination takes. I think he knows that the "messianic" tag which followed Bush all over the world would be counterproductive.
I'm glad you wrote the article. It is something worth being concerned about.
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Margaret Bassett (19 articles, 1263 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 742 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 8:49:06 PM
Thanks...I was there then too. I knew Ken Smith at the Community Renewal Society and everyone else when I edited Renewal. The problem for Barack is not him -- I think he is definitely on the side of the angels -- it is with media who will sieze upon this or that and blow it up. Just tonight they are going after statements of his pastor once again. On the whole I think Barack has handled everything remarkably well and that this campaign has been a good rehearsal for what will come in the fall when he's the nominee. Cheers, S
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Stephen C. Rose (35 articles, 64 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 56 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 8:59:28 PM
Obama can not shake this. His pastor with whom he says is like family has sealed his fate. I don't believe in what Obama has said. I do give him credit for his orgainizational skills, but to lead this Country, I have no faith in him. When one is pushed into hard times they revert back to what they learned in childhood. His past is too questionable for me to put the future of my children in his hands.
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Jennifer A (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 11:52:25 PM
Being a Hillary supporter, I confess to bias up-front. But as a Chicago-based wit, Paul Green, remarked: "The last time anybody had this kind of build up, he had twelve apostles." It is becoming apparent that Barack's capacity for self-examination is receding on a tide of PR promotion usually afforded entertainment stars. In our media-fed age, with interpersonal discourse dwindling to a few minutes per day, he becomes a surrogate for meaningful insight. We can listen to his message and call it hope; we can, as we do in practicing religious ritual, lay responsibility at his feet and continue the routines we cherish. The object of our devotion will save us from our own excesses. This is where the danger lies--reneging on individual responsibilty. In a democracy, that attitude will sink the ship of state. Barack Obama would be seen as a failed helmsman; better for him to rethink his role in that scenario, if his own burning ambition will allow such introspection.
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Marilyn Frith (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 191 comments)
on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 8:25:43 AM
Barack is ambitious and we are ALL a spectrum from primal to sublime. That said, a comparison with Hillary would place Barack somewhat ahead on the spectrum in my view. Then again I have spent this morning reviewing her treatment of White House employees, her attack politics history and the efforts to cover up deficiencies in the Clintons willingness to go after Bin Laden. I have written that presidential choices are a crap shoot because all presidents tend to defy predictions and their own promises. All told I am happier with Barack. And as far as Jeremian goes, I think he has been misunderstood. He is not swearing at the US. He is suggesting that One who stands above all nations will and does parcel out judgment. He believes there is moral calculus in the universe and this indeed leaves no nation clean. Best, S
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Stephen C. Rose (35 articles, 64 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 56 comments)
on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 8:53:10 AM
