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Obama As The Anti Christ?
This is perhaps one of the most disturbing clips I've seen about the fragile state of the American psyche in quite some time. Guardian journalist Ed Pilkinson went to do a story on Ethanol production in Missouri, and spoke with the general manager Roger Hill about the presidential election. Pilkinson expected Hill to be a reasonable man, and supportive of Obama for his stance on Ethanol. Instead, he got the shock of his life when Hill started talking about Muslims taking over London, how Obama was secretly a Muslim (and had admitted it on a video Mr. Hill had on his laptop), and most alarmingly, that Obama was an incarnation of the Anti Christ.
I live in West Hollywood, California, so am not subjected to this type of ignorance on a routine basis. People here are generally educated, liberal and open minded. I have however, spent some time in less populated areas of the country and have mixed with people with very different views from myself. I spent a year in Corvallis, Oregon as part of an exchange program with my university in England, and got to know some Christian fundamentalists pretty well.
The video on the Guardian brought back memories of my time in Oregon, where I was exposed to some troubling aspects of American culture. I was struck by the lack of general education local Oregonians receive, and could not believe that most of my class mates did not understand, or believe in the theory of evolution. There were many highly intelligent people, but without fundamental knowledge in some very basic subjects. I remember feeling extremely disturbed that seemingly normal people could repeat religious doctrine without questioning it, and adhere to a belief system that defied everything modern science and rationality told us about the world. I was also exposed to some more hateful views of the world, where Muslisms were all terrorists, the French were cowardly communists and the American military was to be used to instill fear and take resources wherever and whenever it wanted.
It occurred to me that there were two competing Americas, and two separate cultures vying for power. One that valued intelligence, education and reason, and the other that valued religion, nationalism and fear. The latter was desperately insecure, isolated and dangerous, while the former confused, unable to communicate its ideas, and on the brink of collapse.
That was back in 2002, and a huge amount has changed since then. Progressives have fought back, organizing, educating and strategizing to the point where a Black liberal is on the verge of the Presidency. But there is still a long way to go.
Roger Hill is a classic example of the enormous problems facing America, where respectable, intelligent people repeat the most heinous gibberish without a trace of embarassment. Hill is a symbol of how America is failing its people, a man who seems proud of extreme ignorance and unashamed of hateful views of the world.
It's a reminder that this is a country with some very serious problems that will not go away over night. The Roger Hills of this country have been neglected for too long, and need to be reached if America has a chance of surviving as a nation. George Bush has brought the country to the brink of the abyss only to be rescued at the final hour (and that's if Obama wins), but there is still much work to do.
Ben Cohen is the editor of www.thedailybanter.com and a contributing writer to www.espn.com. He can be reached at thedailybanter@gmail.com
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Oh yes, I almost forgot, ....It is still the "theory" of evolution isn't it? Of which still renders it incomplete. We have more to discover.
People are so focused on who they think the antiChrist is that they'll probably miss the real one.
I live in the South, Bible Belt, where fundamentalist religious beliefs are the norm. Among these Christians there are truly good people of simple faith, and extremist nut-jobs with whaco prejudices and beliefs.. I suspect in every religion on earth there are both, witness the good people of Muslin faith vs. Islamic terrorists! In every monastery, church, temple, place of worship are likely individuals of different character and temperament.
The bewildering thing to me is how any Christian can turn the words of Christ into a reason for hatred. It has, I suspect, something to do with feeling "chosen", of being among the "elect" (i.e.better than others). This gives the insecure the same illusory life that bigotry does: someone to look down on, "I'm better than him".
Whatever the reason, extremism in any religion belies the very purpose of the founding of this nation: equality for all and religious freedom, which is the very foundation that makes our beautiful melting pot real, unique, and able to withstand stupidity in any extremist form if we remain awake and committed to those principles. So far, so good.
To be Liberal means you're open-minded and tolerant. Are you implying that if one has religious beliefs he can't be Liberal in his thinking?
What do you think Obama is? Obama has professed his faith in Christ. Yet he is known as a Liberal. And he's also demonstrated his intelligence and academic achievement.
We in "less populated areas of the country" go off and pay for an education too. I've spent half my life in the Midwest, a quarter of it on the East Coast, and the remainder in a small town in Western Pennsylvania. But you, in all your "liberal" "educated" "open-mindedness" is writing here and perpetuating a STEREOTYPE. Are you as open-minded as you claim? Is your neck-of-the-woods as diverse as you believe it to be?
Here in Small Town, Western PA are Rednecks, Hillbillies, ThugLyfe, Ministers, blue collar people, PhDs, scientists, computer geeks, wannabe entertainers, and every other "type" imaginable, and all skin tones. What irked me about your column is you seem determined to lump people into categories. However, every type I listed above is working with me -voluntarily- to get Obama elected as President of the United States.
And like me, the majority of us are Christian.
Ben,
One thing I find admirable about the United States is that it has been able to accommodate culturally disparate elements for such a long time, without serious rupture.
I suggest that a principal reason for this success has been a philosophy (still evolving) which celebrates differences - of race, religion, social background, philosophy etc.
Might I propose that, as roughly 50% of the US population, give or take, will be voting Republican next week, you might find it helpful to examine their views with a more than just a passing glance.
I wish I could agree with you that American culture "celebrates difference"; if politics is any kind of barometer, for every person open to difference, there's one who's downright afraid of it. In Hollywood terms, difference equals invasion, as in "War of the Worlds" or "Independence Day." Even movies that welcome the Other, the Outsider, like "ET" or "Day the Earth Stood Still," find it dramatically convenient to have people in general mistrust the beneficent Outsider.
But nobody said that guiding these folks back to the light would be easy.
Last time around it was roughly 50m voters on each side - 100m total out of a total population of about 270m. 50% of voters voted Republican yes, but very definitely not 50% of the population voting for either side.
The Fundamentalists that constantly promote this sort of blind, unreasoning fear is facing more opposition from within their own ranks than is being told on the internet. I would suggest that before anyone here writes off the Christians in this country en toto they read Jim Wallis' article right here on Huffpost. Jim hasn't exactly endorsed a candidate, he said that he wouldn't, but you get a strong impression of just where his heart is in the article. I do on occasion return to the evangelical church that I grew up in, and Wallis' magazine is very popular reading there.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/the-movement-vs-the-maver_b_138872.html
Have to tell you this. Having just left a shop laden with groceries, I was ambling my way down the high street when I spied two iconic figures dressed in their usual suit, white shirt and ties, and the inevitable rucksack on their back. Here in the North of England, such icons stand out like a sore thumb.
I watched as they approached, and then, with customary politeness, they thought they could stop me in the street to talk about Jesus, and Joseph Smith. I declined the offer with my customary gruffness usually reserved for JW's, and said...
"F**k Off! I'm voting for Obama!" Their response was right out of the American to English dictionary...
"Actually, that's fine, sir...have a good day!" And on their way they went, like two of the unwise men. Ain't no Mcdonald...sorry, Mcain supporters in this village.
Very good story. Arundhati Roy suggested that the people of the rest of the world needed a vote in the U.S. election. The last eight years have certainly shown why.
Rabid Theocratic Ideologues are frightening whether they are Christian or Muslim.
Check out Bill Maher's new movie, "Religulous."
Are we suppose to believe that the people who dont support Obama who are some of the vilest hateful vicious nasty people are the ones going to heaven because Obama is the Anti Christ. So folks like Palin are good people because they are white they come from good things. GWB along with CHeney who are white and who have destroyed this country destroyed the middle class gut unions and endorse by John McCain these are good people. But Obama is bad because he is AA with a muslim name. Cause we all know white people are good there is nothing evil about them the destruction wrought on this world haas been done by AA and muslims.
Excuse me while I go vomit.
Carol
It's scary that there are people like this, but I disagree with the reporter's assertion that "stuff like this" might make a difference in the short time remaining before the election. The only people stupid enough to fall for this crap already made up their minds a long time ago.
When I see how some people who call themselves "christians" behave, I personally will take the anti-christ.
Given that the Internet offers such interconnectedness around the world (more or less, I guess, in countries like China), I suspect that the inhabitants of rising powers China and India -- where the value of education is seen as a key to individual and national prosperity, security, and power -- are laughing their butts off at a lot of aspects of this election.
Some fifty percent of the country seems committed to the idea that a quality college/university education and communication skills are somehow "bad." Better to be "folksy." Add to that a live-large on credit and forget about savings, little to no spending on infrastructure, a disappearing manufacturing sector, a belief in free trade rather than FAIR TRADE, disdain science, how oil from Alaska gets put on the world market rather than being used for domestic consumption, etc., etc.
And while we're at it -- better to rewrite the history of the country and ignore anything "un-American" rather than learn from our missteps and mistakes and just cheerlead all the way.
They are laughing in Bombay and Peking.
Indeed they are. BUT they are still sending their sons and daughters to study in your universities, so you must be doing something right. I get the feeling that quite a lot of them come along to your colleges and universities and never quite connect with this stratum of society as typified by Mr Hill in the Guardian video. They then return to their homes and perpetuate the impressions of valuable and credible higher education available in America, which results in more parents sending their sons and daughters etc. Some of them even stay on in your country and become taxpaying citizens who contribute to the economic, artistic, intellectual and social life of America, but still never quite connecting with the Roger Hill's of America.
Satellites orbiting each other ad infinitum. Which ultimately ends in this utter disconnect, where we all gaze at each other like Lilliputians and Blefuscudians.
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this guy. Have you been checking goat entrails lately? Doesn't look good. Signs in recent cow droppings and tea leaves are also ominous. While goose droppings have been tending favorably, you have to remember that fuzzy brown caterpillars also cocooned early. As everybody knows, that's really bad when Sagittarius is in Leo--especially during a Mercury cusp.
Hilarious!
I really needed that laugh. You are too much! Personally, I get the best forcast from reading bagworm nests.
I discovered that many of my childhood friends believed Roger Hill's wackiness when we reunited on Facebook. In the middle of updating me on their children and work, they kindly let me know that I was voting for not only a terrorist but a murderer/abortionist who apparently laughs in the face of Jesus. This is only slightly more infuriating than another childhood friend who has no political opinion at all, but when asked about "The Hills" will excruciatingly gnaw your ear off with opinions. Not sure which is worse right now.
Oh, and according to news reports in Florida, gun sales are on the rise for fear of a Democratic win and subsequently the apocalypse. I wonder if Roger Hill is locked and loaded.
Oh, is it fear of the apocalypse? I thought it was just that guns are going to be illegal come January 20 (along with apple pie and the Stars and Stripes, of course).
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