Accused of Idolatry

I have occasionally found myself accusing those on the right of idolatry. I often see them mixing their Christian faith with some sort of American Imperialism and ending up with a civil religion that sometimes scares me. I saw this most obviously during the Republican National Convention this year where we were told to put our Country First and we were told about John McCain's conversion story, where he learned what it means to be an American.

This last week the other shoe has dropped (at least we aren't in the Middle East where it would have been thrown). People have been stating again and again that President Obama is not the Messiah. They have been saying that they are worried about the enthusiasm that so many have about Obama's Presidency, that people seem to think that he is going to fix all humanities problems.

As a strong supporter of President Obama and someone who is excited about what is ahead, I want to say that this excitement is not idolatry. I don't think that Obama is a Messiah. I don't believe that he can solve the world's problems, let alone our country's. But I am excited and hopeful about what is ahead.

Obama has already started the process to put an end to gitmo. Yesterday he put the military trials on hold at gitmo, signifying the change of plans for what is going to come there. I know that many have said that gitmo was a necessary evil, but it was an evil perpetrated by our own government and I am glad to see it go.

Obama recorded a message for an environmental conference that met in November in California. During his message he shared his plans to take climate change seriously. He showed that he is going to approach science honestly and not pick and choose.

These are just two examples of areas where I believe his policy is going to make our government a better government. I like his philosophy of government. He is already getting in trouble with some progressives because he seems too "moderate" for them... wanting to work with those on the other side of the aisle. We will have to wait and see if this continues. But in his inauguration speech he made a powerful statement: It isn't whether government is too big or too small... it's whether it works that counts! He wants to find a way to make government work. I'm excited about that possibility.

And then there's the historical symbolism of his presidency. This also has nothing to do with him being a Messiah. It has less to do with him at all than what it says about our country. We have elected a man to be President whose parents weren't allowed to be married in every state of the union when he was born. We elected a man to be President whose father wouldn't be served in some restaurants in D.C. sixty years ago. With the horrible history of slavery in our country, we have said that we are heading in a new direction now. This is one of those hinges of history, and it is worth celebrating. It is worth celebrating how far our country has come. It is not the end of the journey, but it is truly worth celebrating. And celebrating it is not worshiping President Obama.

So, lay off people. Let us celebrate. Let us look with hope towards the future. Let us be excited about the direction in which President Obama wants to take this country. Don't mistake our excitement for hero worship. Don't mistake our joy for idolatry.

And those who are celebrating, make sure that you aren't going too far. Make sure that you realize that our President isn't a miracle worker. Make sure that you don't fall into the trap of idolatry which others have fallen into on the other side.