The Will to Believe: Political Messianism

People were created to worship God. They have an innate need to believe and worship. As St. Paul says that those who "suppress the truth" have "exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator ..." (Romans 1:18b, 25a). Again, as G.K. Chesterton said,"When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing — they believe in anything." And that is a bizarre thing, if not scary thing.

The 450 years of exponential growth in secularization since the beginning of the Age of Reason have taken their toll. The leading edge of secular thought has passed successively from a theistic consensus in the 17th century, through successive phases of deism, naturalism, nihilism existentialism, into a postmodern wasteland without heroes and with gods. But to paraphrase Pascal, there's "a God-Shaped Hole in all of us" that nothing else can fill. We may try to fill it with all sorts of trash (the word he used was stronger), but nothing other than the true God ultimately satisfies.

The longing of the masses for a god, a savior, a redeemer, is something a Christian finds a bit terrifying when he sees it misdirected towards the creature rather than the Creator. Terrifying because no creature -- certainly no human being -- can bear the weight of an incarnate deity, not to mention the transgression of usurping the Throne in the heart of man that can be occupied rightfully only by God.

This longing of the masses for a god to worship -- this recrudescence of the ancient temptation of the Children of Israel to run after false gods -- was not far beneath the surface in the emotional affect elicited from the crowds by Mr. Obama in his campaign speeches before the last presidential election. It came to a head in the outpouring of evangelical enthusiasm and messianic expectation that filled Denver's Mile-High Stadium where Mr. Obama delivered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on August 29, 2008, amidst trappings reminiscent of Imperial Rome where the Emperor was saluted as god incarnate.

While the wild enthusiasm of those campaigning days may have worn off, the God-shaped hole in peoples' hearts has not, as evidenced by the continuing mystical aura of messianic hope projected upon him. Two examples of this continuing 'worship' have come my way in the last week -- an advertisement for a commemorative doll (yes, a doll) and a school musical performance. First, the doll:


A Commemorative Doll to Cherish!

Obama, Birth of HOPE

Not available in stores

Price: $149.99 US
The Ashton-Drake Galleries


Second, the musical performance:



[Hat tip to J.S. and Internet Romish Graffiti]