7.23.2008
Obama the Lightworker Watch
While some have wondered if Presidential candidate Barack Obama is the Messiah, others have speculated a less Christian-centric role for the charismatic politician. Back in June, columnist Mark Morford said that several "spiritually advanced" people are claiming Obama is a Lightworker.
"Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul."
Now, Obama has caused a minor stir, and given "Obama as pan-religious enlightened being" watchers something to chew on by giving a press conference in Jordan at the Temple of Hercules.
Obama at the Temple of Hercules
"Barack Obama strode onto the world stage on Tuesday with trademark audacity, or as his political enemies would have it, a dearth of humility, in the symbolic shadow of Jordan's Temple of Hercules. As he tries to convince Americans he will keep them safe, the White House hopeful held his first major press conference abroad as presumptive Democratic nominee near ancient Roman ruins and a shrine to the mighty Greek mythic hero. Overlooking sun-bleached homes and minarets of the Jordanian capital, Obama spoke about his stealth mission to Iraq, against a backdrop seemingly chosen to suggest a young dynamic potential president, at home and abroad ... The temple's terrace dates to 161 to 180 AD, and overlooks a complex of period Roman ruins, including an ampitheatre, an Odeon and Nymphaeum. The symbolism seemed to convince one local journalist, who yelled "Mr President" to get her voice heard."
Hercules/Heracles, was immensely popular and worshiped across the Greco-Roman world. Many of the rites and stories surrounding him evoke qualities that we would now equate with a "savior" figure. A people's hero of divine origin who died by treachery and rose up to heaven, transfigured into a god. So it looks like Obama isn't limiting himself to using only Christian iconography to win this election
* Heck, some have (satirically) wondered if Obama isn't the Platonic philosopher king we’ve been looking for for the past 2,400 years.
Labels: Barack Obama, Hercules, Paganism, politics, Presidential election, Satire
Comments:
Ok, for serious:
America needs to get itself some *purely decorative*, heads of state, to serve as tabloid and public attention fodder, and pick up the general 'glamour' of the nation, like a royal family or something.
That'd save roles like the presidency for the plain old, down-home, boring bureaucratic types, like a lot of other countries have (England, Aus, NZ etc).
As it is - another poster is right. American Presidents seem to have, seem to be *required* to have this 'glamour' to them, rather than be an actual *functional* role like it is in many other, but not all, countries.
From an outsider (NZ), it seems really really weird to have a political system where father and son would serve two consecutive presidencies in the same party, or where a wife would campaign for the same seat.
Is it some basic instinct for familial hierarchies or something? It really *looks* like a pseudo monarchy. Maybe having a fake, powerless monarchy to fill that psychological niche really does help....
Er, that may not have made sense to anyone. Sorry.
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Ok, for serious:
America needs to get itself some *purely decorative*, heads of state, to serve as tabloid and public attention fodder, and pick up the general 'glamour' of the nation, like a royal family or something.
That'd save roles like the presidency for the plain old, down-home, boring bureaucratic types, like a lot of other countries have (England, Aus, NZ etc).
As it is - another poster is right. American Presidents seem to have, seem to be *required* to have this 'glamour' to them, rather than be an actual *functional* role like it is in many other, but not all, countries.
From an outsider (NZ), it seems really really weird to have a political system where father and son would serve two consecutive presidencies in the same party, or where a wife would campaign for the same seat.
Is it some basic instinct for familial hierarchies or something? It really *looks* like a pseudo monarchy. Maybe having a fake, powerless monarchy to fill that psychological niche really does help....
Er, that may not have made sense to anyone. Sorry.
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