"He communicates God-like energy..."

I have been examining the Obama phenomenon myself, and have concluded, at least for myself, a Midwestern white male, that Barack’s appeal is actually messianic, it’s something about his aura, his spirit, his soul, that exudes enlightenment in the making.

Oh, he’s not fully enlightened, being that enlightenment is a process, not an event. But for reasons I can’t fully articulate, he is one of those individuals who communicates God-like energy (metaphorically speaking), in whom you can “feel” God.

Now, I’m using the term “God” to mean the loving, honest, just, and inspiring part of the force behind it all. You may not believe something’s behind it all, but I do. And I look for God constantly — that which exudes love, integrity, humility, depth, kindness, generosity — and more ... supposedly.

So, Geraldine, I’m taking a special look at Barack Obama because he’s a lot closer to a Jesus-type than the other candidates, by quite a bit. What if God decided to incarnate as men preaching “hope and change.” And what if we didn’t recognize them, because we are so dull, and let them slip away, not availing ourselves of the opportunity to be led by God! Lord knows we’ve elected the anti-Christ often enough. Excuse me, George.

Steve Davis, Charleston, SC March 31, 2008.

A small child is held up above the signs to see Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., speak at a rally at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., Monday, March 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

"The Obama Phenomenon"

...."The phenomenon in question is this: the intense desire of every human being on this planet to overcome and transcend the materialism and selfishness that shape the global economic arrangements and permeate the consciousness of all people, to overcome the looking-out-for-number one consciousness that divides us and the technocratic language that shapes our public institutions and denies us access to our common humanity, and to overcome the alienation from each other that this way of being has created so that we might once again recognize each other as embodiments of God or Spirit (or however you want to talk about the force-field of goodness, generosity, kindness, justice, peace, nonviolence, and care for each other and nature and the entirety of all that is).....

Michael Lerner, Tikkun

"a man of resplendid vision with the wisdom of Solomon"

On the Internet video sharing site YouTube, the pulsating steel-pan fused Barack the Magnificent, by Trinidad calypso king The Mighty Sparrow, has gotten more than 70,000 hits. Earlier this month, Jamaican reggae dancehall crooner Cocoa Tea released Barak Obahama, a laid-back reggae-tinged tribute that tells listeners, "This is not about class nor color, race nor creed. Make no mistake it's the changes . . . what the Americans need." . . .

"He's no ordinary man," said Sparrow, who calls Obama a man of resplendid vision with the wisdom of Solomon, the biblical king of Israel. ``I see people my age in the 70s, 80s, 60s, 50s screaming out in appreciation like when the Beatles first came to America. I can't believe that older people would react that way. That is one of the reasons why I believe he was sent by the Messiah."

Caribbean sings (literally) Obama's praises Miami Herald March 28, 2006.

"He appeals to all that is innate and created in us in a longing for that “better country, that is a heavenly one” discussed in Hebrews 11"

The only thing that would have made it more delicious would have been if he had come to Eugene, Oregon, on Palm Sunday rather than on Good Friday. And if his supporters had been waving palm fronds rather than “Change You Can Believe In!” placards. The Obama phenomena has risen to the level of religious, almost messianic fervor.

I see among many of the young a hopelessness that is almost tangible. Alongside that is an inability to trust others and to believe in ultimate truths and values. The mantra is that authority cannot be trusted and that the loudest voices in society want to do nothing more than “sell” something. Broken homes have created a generation with absolutely no one to look up to and to turn to for advice. So direction is lacking, commitment is rare, and despair is rampant.

Barack Obama strides into that void. While voicing “other worldly” themes he suggests “this world” solutions. His soaring oratory and his ambitious promises make his appeal to hope and his drive for change seem reasonable and attainable. He appeals to all that is innate and created in us in a longing for that “better country, that is a heavenly one” discussed in Hebrews 11. And he offers fulfillment in his election to the presidency at which time he will unleash the power of government to set things right in a world currently turned upside down. Thus he offers a messianic hope with the full weight and force of the U.S. government to back him up. For many right now, with the youth leading the way, this is a compelling combination. Heaven on earth is indeed appealing rather than having to wait.

Peter Wierenga, World March 27, 2008.

"not just an ordinary human being but indeed an Advanced Soul"

I listened to that endorsement and Barack's speech afterwards and Obama, to me, must be not just an ordinary human being but indeed an Advanced Soul, come to lead America out of this mess, if we no if They, let them, but we too have a say in this Democracy, this Barack well knows. Through this trial-by-fire, recently experienced by him, he has been Humble, Noncombative, Noncritical and committed to doing his work on this earth to make it a more better and perfect union. He has kept his promise not to tear one another down but to build us up. He has courage in the face of fire, not a courage of anger but a courage of goodwill and harmlessness in spite of the difficulties. That is why he can say with honesty that he can work with the other side because where others see hate, he sees love and the good within an individual... that takes a special person to see the good when bad is all around that person and may be to bring that good out within that person.. to transform them, while all the time transforming theirself.

Commentator @ Lyn Sweet's The Scoop from Washington Chicago Sun-Times March 21, 2008

"What he is offering ... is a covenant for PERFECTION"

... there is no other like Obama. Absolutely none. ...

What he is offering is not for the naive, nor the fainted-hearted, its not for the uncourageous, nor the unchanging.

What he is offering is for the courageous, for those who have the heart to move beyond just dreams, and into realms never experienced in American history.

What he is offering is beyond hope, hope is just a starting point, like the intimate binding of struggle between his example of the young white girl and the old black man.

What he is offering is for those who look to the next generation, believing that perfection is not in the eyes of the beholder, but reality which we can't avoid

What he is offering is a solution for opportunities for more solutions to tackle root issues that have paralyzed a nation fit for perfection

What he is offering is the antisynthesis to an ideology of hate and a philosophy of inferiority

What he is offering is an agreement between struggles and a covenant for perfection, in that nothing is impossible if one begins with hope and the assurance of faith

What he is offering is a contract between the old and the young, black and white, citizens and immigrants, rich and poor, priviledged and the impoverished

What he is offering is beyond what we think could happen, it is what will happen someday, though the opportunity is one that we can grasp ...

I am ready for what he is offering, though I also understand that this time, fate might not be ready, though if indeed our generation's destiny, if indeed this time when we speak of such taboo truths, is indeed the time we've so longed for, to move one step closer towards perfection, then I am ready for what he is offering.

That is all that matters, no matter what the political outcome is, he has tapped into a force greater than what we have ever faced, he speaks directly to our hearts, bypassing our conscience and connecting with the root of our psyche. So that even if we try to hold hard to that which continue to divide us, because of our fear, our ignorance, and our childish philosophies of unchanging solutions; his message transcends our reach.

So on behalf of Senator Obama's message, who is truly the epitome of a dream that can only be dreamt by the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., I am truly inspired that hope, change, and perfection are all means and ends which one day, we will achieve, within this nation and the world at-large.

Akindele | March 18, 2008 12:11 PM [Comment on Lynn Sweet's Chicago Sun-Times blog]

"The Hope of a New Generation"

The book was a REVELATION. Here was a man whose honesty about himself and understanding of the human condition are both deep and compassionate. ... Born to a white mother and an African father, he was raised in multiracial Hawaii and for several years in Indonesia. He drifted through some druggy teenage years — no apologies! — before emerging as a star at Harvard Law School. He chose to work as a community organizer in the projects of Chicago rather than join the wealthy insider world of corporate law. And as a young adult, he searched, in the distant villages of Kenya, for the father and family he never knew.

As I read all this, so elegantly written, my mind kept rolling over: Might it be possible? Is there some fate by which we could have this man as president of the United States?

The similarities between John Kennedy and Barack Obama come to mind easily: the youth, the magnetism, the natural grace, the eloquence, the wit, the intelligence, the hope of a new generation.

But it might be more to the point to view Obama as Lincolnesque in his own origins, his sobriety and what history now demands. ...

We need to recover the spiritual and moral direction that should describe our country and ourselves. We see this in Obama, and we see the promise he represents to bring factions together, to achieve again the unity that drives great change and faces difficult, and inconvenient, truths and peril. ...

Like Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama challenges America to rise up, to do what so many of us long to do: to summon "the better angels of our nature."

Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone Official Endorsement.

"Miracle" - Remix of Stevie Wonder's Hymn to Obama

Obama walks "the hero's journey" . . .

Some readers understood right away what I meant last week when I said that John McCain has the misfortune to be running against Luke Skywalker. But others are still scratching their heads, wondering what in the world I was talking about.

I was talking about Barack Obama. I think his story has been so compelling for so many people because it taps into one of our most profound myths.

Obama's myth is a tried-and-true one. The late folklorist Joseph Campbell called it "the hero's journey," and it's found in every culture, from Moses, David and Odysseus to Luke Skywalker, Frodo and Harry Potter.

It's both a literal journey and an inward voyage of self-discovery. The hero begins as a callow youth -- often one who has lost one or both parents -- who has no idea who he really is.

The journey consists of a series of trials that teach him his true destiny and reveal powers that he didn't know he had. These trials are usually epic struggles against seemingly invincible monsters.

David fought the giant Goliath, Odysseus fought the one-eyed Cyclops, and Obama has been waging a marathon battle against the dreaded two-headed Billary.

At the end of the journey, armed with enhanced power and self-knowledge, the hero returns home and saves the world.

Martin Snapp, Contra Costa Times March 7, 2008.

"They just began SINGING AT ME, and they were singing 'YES WE CAN'!"

A few weeks ago, covered in Hillary badges, I approached a young couple in California and, as I was about to offer up my pearls of electoral wisdom, they just began singing at me. And they were singing Yes We Can, the song by Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am, whose video has become a phenomenon on YouTube. [...]

[T]his week, the musician has put out another singalong. The new video captures a different side to supporting Obama: its fanaticism, its breathless, quasi-religious excitement, and its inherent problems. Instead of the text of a speech, the refrain has simply become "Obama", and its message: "We are the ones."

The Obama campaign uses a religious calling as its central rhetorical trope: "I'm asking you to believe," reads the banner across the top of barackobama.com. His appeal to voters is an archetype of religious conversion: instead of being asked for support, Americans are exhorted to "join the movement".

In Georgia, he directly equated his supporters with God's people: "God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and march together around the city… and when the horn sounded and a chorus of voices cried out together, the mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down."

Later in the speech, he asked the congregation to "walk with me, march with me… and if enough of our voices join together, we can bring those walls tumbling down."

Obama supporters listen to his speech in San Antonio, Texas. REUTERS/Jim Young

Obama has created the impression that Clinton supporters, like the Pharisees in the temple, are obstacles to change: "I want to speak directly to all those Americans who have yet to join this movement but still hunger for change. They know it in their gut... But they're afraid. They've been taught to be cynical."

It's not an argument for better government; it's an exhortation to see the light. It's not a plan for the Presidency, but a leap of faith.

This idea came to a head in Obama's Super Tuesday speech, with those much talked about phrases: "We are the change that we seek… We are the ones we've been waiting for."

'We Are The Chosen Ones': A new hymn to Obama Telegraph [UK] March 6, 2008.

"The similarities between Obamian hope and biblical hope are extraordinary"

Obamian hope moves beyond the past and seeks to proactively conceptualise and create the future. It does not just wait for the future to come; it contributes to its shaping and coming. It pulls the future to itself and pushes itself towards the future.

Biblical hope is similar. Like Obamian hope, it speaks to the matter of the future being pulled into the present in the Kingdom of God. In a real sense, the Kingdom of God respects but moves beyond the past and, in the present, it realises the future, in a preliminary sense. Biblical hope also, in a sense, propels the one in whom it is found toward the future consummation of this kingdom. Like Obamian hope, biblical hope knows that the present is just a platform on which the future is being built and experienced. This is powerful.

In addition, Obamian hope rises above the fray of the mundane, the dehumanising, the frivolous and the conventional. It shifts from the periphery to the centre of human history. It is a hope that escapes attempts at suppression and obliteration by 'unhope' and the forces thereof. . . .

Fundamentally, the similarities between Obamian hope and biblical hope are extraordinary, striking and intriguing. Like biblical hope, Obamian hope inspires the United States of America and the world.

Rev. Earlmont Williams, Jamaican Gleaner March 1, 2008

Associated Press: "Believe"

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a town hall meeting in Carrollton, Texas, Monday, March 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

"I believe in Obama, because he believes in ME"

"It’s so rapturous, everything around him. All these huge rallies."

“I don’t think that it’s kind treatment versus unkind treatment,” Mr. Cowan began, taking issue with the depiction of journalists fawning over Mr. Obama in a “Saturday Night Live” skit last Saturday . . .

And yet, Mr. Cowan then described several advantages that he saw Mr. Obama as having over his rival. “He hasn’t been around as long, so there isn’t as much to pick at,” Mr. Cowan said. “He plays everything very cool. He’s not as much of a lightning rod. His personality just doesn’t seem to draw that kind of coverage.”

“Even in the conversations we have as colleagues, there is a sense of trying especially hard not to drink the Kool-Aid,” Mr. Cowan added. “It’s so rapturous, everything around him. All these huge rallies.”

On the Press Bus, Some Questions Over Favoritism, by Jacques Steinberg. New York Times March 1, 2008.