Hobbit-Sense at OneFreeGarden.com

I’m quickly posting some fascinating excerpts from Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s blog. (Apologies for missing Monday – I had a whole post, then a server hiccup and lost most of it courtesy my failure to type it in a word processor- and I knew better. I hope to re-write it better.)  

I know that a lot of people supported our new President’s election most fervently.  There have also been debates that basically circle around the idea of how much opposition loyalty covers when we speak of a loyal opposition (for a debate on this subject, check out this post and the subsequent discussion by my friend the Raving Theist).  

It seems to me that where some extremists during the last administration made the ridiculous accusation that those who opposed the war were somehow unpatriotic, well, we haven’t gotten better now that hope and change have come to Washington.  I don’t know a single Democratic voter who wanted Bush’s policies to succeed, but now it appears that not wanting Pres. Obama’s policies to succeed somehow amounts to treachery or hatred.  If someone truly believes that his policies will be bad (and in the pro-life crowd, that pretty much amounts to a genocide of the unborn), then you’d be inconsistent in hoping he succeeds.  What pacifist would one reasonably expect to support Bush’s wars while opposing war in general?  

But I digress.  Fr. Longenecker has expressed exceedingly well those aspects that should give anyone pause when voting for a politician.  His remarks are in regards to Pres. Obama, but they are valid for anyone (and read the comments box at his page for his delineation of the difference between liberal and conservative ideologues).  Highlights:

He may be a Messiah, but he is also a Minotaur. That is to say, he is bull headed. He is bull headed as are all ideologues. The ideologue is different from an idealist because the idealist has a belief and faith whereas the ideologue has dogma and certainty. The dogma he holds to is even more insidious because he does not believe in dogma, and his certainty is frightful because it brooks no opposition.

…

This ideological Messianic minotaur (with his soaring rhetoric and inspiring vision for a brave new world) seems to be the most wonderful kind of politician, when in fact he is the worst kind of politician. He is the worst kind of politician because he believes himself to be the best kind of person. But he is the worst kind of person because he really believes he can do no wrong. He is so convinced of the rightness of his ideology that he will not hear reason from anyone, least of all from the fearless little matador who dons a tri-cornered hat and ridiculous tight trousers and tries to skewer the bull.

…

This is why I dislike and distrust and fear the Messianic Minotaurs: because they believe they can do no wrong. These are the political Pharisees, the ones who, history has shown us, slaughter millions to create a master race, or effect a more equitable redistribution of wealth to bring about a ‘just and fair’ revolution. These are the ones who self righteously accept the adulation of the crowds as their just due.

The whole post is definitely worth reading (and covers also the difference between idealist and idealogue).  These elements should give us concern about any politician.  They take on somewhat different characters as left or right ideologues, but the problem remains the same.  And the answer lies with us:  we need to stop exalting people, and exalt the only Man who really can save us.

Shortly before the election, living deep in the “blue-state” heartland, I ordered a bumpersticker I intend to leave on for all elections.  It reads, “I already have a Savior.  I’m looking for a President.”  The widespread adulation of public figures, be they the first African-American President or a pop-star, is a ridiculous attempt to find someone worthy of worship, but it will never work out, because they are flawed human beings like the rest of us.  It’s not even fair to treat any politician like that, let alone being illogical and irresponsible.  I’ll put this out there:  We Cannot Save Ourselves.  Every attempt to make the human race better has generally had the opposite effect.  We can’t organise our way to utopia (sorry, Marx), or think our way to goodness (sorry, Enlightenment thinkers).  There’s only one Savior I know of who can help, and he didn’t exalt himself.  

I really encourage everyone to read the full post by Fr. Longenecker, and I hope to post again today or tomorrow.

-the Rosy Gardener