Godly Language
Really, I don’t care what political or religious affiliation you claim, if any. Really I don’t. But I think it’s inappropriate to compare any politician—any mortal, for that matter—to God, as Newsweek editor Evan Thomas reportedly did recently.
When I first heard about this, the reporter (and I've seen it quoted the same way on some blogs as well) used the phrase "he's sort of God," with Thomas referring to President Obama. When I went to the MSNBC website--the words were uttered on the Chris Matthews show--the transcript shows this: "We stand for something—I mean, in a way, Obama‘s standing above the country, above—above the world, a sort of god." So I guess there's a difference: capital "G" God versus lowercase "a god," but it still makes me uncomfortable.
What do you think?
Comments
Hey, I think language is important. For me, even though I struggle with some of the legalism of the Hebrew Bible, I am still struck by its emphasis on use of language and the reverence for the name of God. In my life, I need to be reminded that God is bigger than everything worldly, even and especially a naitonal leader. In fact, if I thought any leader of any nation was kind of god or God, my hope would be radically affected.
It's because I think language is so important that it makes me nervous when it's misused. Are you saying that you would have more hope if the president were considered god/God like? The prospect of that scares me so that I'm almost speechless. I said almost!
I just see it as a simile/metaphor kind of thing. I wouldn't be upset (OK, a little, but for different reasons) if he was called "a or the devil" or anything else. He's not calling him God (or god) - he is making a comparison. Which means he clearly doesn't think he actually _is_ god/God. Which to me are two entirely totally different things. If the commentator thinks Obama is god/God, then the commentator needs to have his head examined. If the commentator is merely "hoping for a miracle" (little M) - oh, say, like with the economy (I know I am) then the logical comparison would be with a god, because it will take something like superhuman strength or ingenuity to get us out of this deep hole we are in. Now - disclaimer here - I'm not familiar with the original controversy, nor do i know anything about the greater context of the comments made.
I guess I am also less bothered by this because it is coming from a commentator. Commentators are always saying something stupid and/or inflammatory. If Obama said it about himself, then yeah, that would be a big and frightful thing, and it would be a matter of humility (or lack of, I guess). I can think of other politicians in high office who claimed to have an inside track with god/God that the rest of us mere mortals did not. That kind of self-satisfied "special dispensation" scares me far more than anything anybody else (like a commentator) might say at second hand about a president or other high office holder.