14 April 2008

Marx, Obama and Religion

One of the refreshing things about the Obama phenomenon is that he seemed to mark the resurgence of orator as candidate.

He, whether you agree with his message or not, embodied the inspiring politician able to reach, motivate and lead “the masses” with symbolic and inspiring oratory. John F. Kennedy meets Tony Roberts. Yes we can! (do for me what you won’t do for yourselves-) Vote!

For me, though, the more I learn about the guy, the redder he becomes- the more he reminds me of the communist rhetoric of my youth. It’s like someone is messing with the hue control on the TV.

Maybe the problem with Mr. O. is that he sees himself as a leader of the masses. If you’re part of the masses and you’re not hearing his call, well, obviously there must be something wrong with you. Obama doesn’t like that. But being the elitist that he is, he understands. You’re just clinging and resisting out of frustration.

“It’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Although he stopped himself from calling the clingers “Gusanos”, worms, he clearly believes that there is some kind of psychological trauma that causes people not to agree with his populism meets class envy, neo socialist world view. Some kind of an ideological thought disorder. It’s not a big deal, really, nothing a little re-education can’t fix. He understands. All big brothers do.

In Cuba, you were just a plain old worthless Gusano and a criminal counterrevolutionary. Off you go to the work camps to get re-educated-end of story.

I know that sounds a bit paranoid but I’m not the only one that sees the color in Obama’s face and in his word getting redder.

Here’s an interesting, much more scholarly observation from Bill Krystol on the same Obama quote and its correlation to classic Marxist dogma:

… This sent me to Marx’s famous statement about religion in the introduction to his “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right”:

“Religious suffering is at the same time an expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of a soulless condition. It is the opium of the people.”

But it’s one thing for a German thinker to assert that “religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature.” It’s another thing for an American presidential candidate to claim that we “cling to ... religion” out of economic frustration.

And it’s a particularly odd claim for Barack Obama to make. After all, in his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, he emphasized with pride that blue-state Americans, too, “worship an awesome God.”…


Hmmm...

Ok. So maybe I’m not totally nuts. Either that, or I, like Kristol, suffer from the trauma induced frustration that prevents us from seeing the world through the same pink colored eyeglasses that Obama does.

One of the things, perhaps the most important thing, I find despicable about Marxism is that it is a Godless religion. It is a religion in which there is no spirituality. Thus, everything is material. Men are not equal because the Creator made them equal-rights. They are equal because of the amount of possessions they have-egalitarianism.

And that’s why I find the Obama comment on religion insulting and beneath a man who is striving for the Presidency.

Seeking refuge in a higher power, regardless of my economic condition is my right-A God-given right and not a State given psychological disorder as Mr. Obama suggests.


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