The joke is that President Barack Obama’s admirers think that man is the messiah, but in actual fact, they do not. What these people would do is make Obama our king.
The search for a savior king is age old. In our own country, not so long ago, Thomas Paine spoke against this weakness in our collective character (see here). To add authority to his words, Paine cited scripture, 1 Samuel 8, and this is an amazing chapter. Samuel told the Israelites that God himself did not want them to have a king, that a king would bring them woe. Even so, the people had the gall to demand that God’s own prophet appoint them a king. So God punished them. He fulfilled their wish.
Why did the Israelites want a king? What need drove them?
1 Samuel 8:19-20 (Today’s New International Version)
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
The Israelites had just seen God fight their battles for them. Nonetheless, they wanted a king. And so it is with us. Instead of having faith that God will help us fight our battles, we want to pass our own responsibility onto someone seemingly stronger. Instead of appearing strange, we want to be like everybody else. We want someone to mother us, soothe us, relieve us of our worries, and to make us look good.
How do we persuade ourselves of the justice of such a purpose? We begin with the best of intentions. Consider this comment (from here).
Our health insurance programs currently suck, if you will excuse the term. They deny some, and others are so wasteful, it is disgusting.
But national health care, IMO, would bankrupt us and kill us as tax payers.
Furthermore, talk to some Vets who have had to struggle through military health programs. It’s like pulling teeth sometimes–never mind that mental health is treated as a medical step-child when our soldiers are among the most needy!
Now…what are some solutions?
1. I believe there must be some option for people with no insurance. Private emergency clinics subsidized by government grants and/or private grants can help here. This isn’t quite socialized medicine, but it isn’t all private, either. Then again, hospitals have private hospital foundations that are quite successful. Use their models to create low cost clinics.
2. Reasonable payment plans are also options. Reasonable means those without insurance should be able to pay on a sliding scale and should not be penalized with bad credit ratings unless payments are not arranged. Some hospitals already have such plans.
3. Mandate employers to offer health insurance that does not result in employees paying half their wages to cover insurance costs. If an employer can’t afford this, they should outsource. There are companies that offer zero or low interest credit for medical costs that include dental care.
4. Use volunteers. We have generous people who would offer some services at low-cost clinics.
We all need to pull together on this one and be part of the solution. Complete national health care isn’t it! National health care is scary.
The commenter makes an eloquent case, and she says what many believe. Didn’t Obama get elected saying much the same?
So what is the problem? The commenter speaks out for moderation, but kings are immoderate. Kings strive to centralize power and authority.
When we ask a king to fight our battles, even a battle against poverty, we must give him dominion over us. When we give a king the power to rob Peter to pay Paul, we give him the key to the kingdom.
Kings retain power by making everyone dependent — upon the king. When a man can redistribute the wealth of a land, he owns it; he is the king. That is why — reasonable though they sound — the proposals in the comment above are treacherous. With the exception the proposal to use volunteers, each risks robbing Peter to pay Paul. And do you doubt that Obama would replace volunteers with draftees?
We need government only to protect our rights, to deter and punish those who would take what does not belong to them. As in Israel, before Samuel named Saul their king, we need the best amongst us to judge our disputes and to lead us in the defense of our land.
Only God is our rightful King and Savior. When He expects each of us to love and care for each other, why should we want our government to get in the way?
The Cartoons
Tom, thanks for quoting me.
I don’t think Obama is proposing the same thing I did. He’s not quite as moderate as I would like. However, I also don’t think it is fair to broad-brush Obama supporters as wanting a king. I suspect they want improvements, and they hope Obama can make those. I hope he can, too, but I also know there is no one person who can get us out of the mess we are in.
kgotthardt – I referred to Obama’s admirers and used that cartoon for a reason. What Obama is doing now and what the general public were led to believe by the corporate news media and Obama’s lofty speeches are certainly not the same. The folks in the corporate news media almost certainly want a king. They just think Obama will be “their” king. They don’t appreciate the nature of monarchy.
If you went to Obama’s campaign website, and you checked out his background, then most likely you are not much surprised by what is going on now. Nonetheless, I suspect very few such people are not astonished and appalled that we actually elected who would implement socialism. On the other hand, if you only listen to the corporate news media, you may still not know what is going on.
BTW – It is not like I get a lot of good comments. So I have to make the most of the the.
“BTW – It is not like I get a lot of good comments. So..”
THANKS A LOT! LOL!
As for the media and what Obama is doing now..two questions.
1. Doesn’t this happen with every election? Candidates promise things and generally, those things don’t happen. (Prove me wrong, please, so that I might become less jaded.)
2. Given that the President has limited authority, how many radical changes do you think Obama will be able to slip through Congress?
3. Related to question #2, how much onus is on Congress rather than Obama?
Onus. Is that not just another word for blame?
There is an old saying, “we get the leadership we deserve.” If Barack Obama and our Congress is the leadership we deserve, that should should and frighten us.
kgotthardt – Where I am coming from is based upon a simple truth. No man has all the answers. So no man can give us a Utopia. When we give politicians the power worst of them crave — when we do not take responsibility for our own lives — we let them enslave us. We put a collar around our own necks, and we hand men who have lied to us our leashes.
Answers:
1. What happens every election happens every election for one reason. We did not learn anything from the last election. What is the definition of insanity?
2. Barack Obama is a Democrat and the leader of the Democratic Party. Congress is run by the Democrats, and the leaders in the House and Senate are just as radical and greedy for power as he. If the American people do not speak out, Obama stands a good chance of getting what he wants.
Consider what socialism does. When politicians make government more powerful, it is themselves they empower.
It is widely believed that if he had so wanted, George Washington could have made himself our king. Washington refused. Can you guess how many of our leaders today would do the same?
3. I am afraid I have to agree with the Old Fashion Liberal.