Is Obama’s Remaining Popularity Due to Political Correctness Masquerading as Civil Religion?

Many shell-shocked Americans ask themselves daily--Why has Obama not yet been impeached? Yet, doesn't it seem as if America has fallen under the spell of foreign gods--like the doctrines of Political Correctness? Further, isn't it also true this set of morality has entered our psyche at a level of basic religion? If so, have we not become slaves to the instincts and demands of a cult? Was Barack's election founded upon concessions made to the morality and ethics of Political Correctness (PC)? How else can we explain the need for an untested leader in times of crisis?

Now it's equally clear the PC movement is the reason that more Americans have not utterly bailed on Obama. Civil Religion is the general notion of religion in a nation expressed in a public setting. Some would assume this Christianity, but not so. For example, where on our currency it says, "In God We Trust," this does not refer to Jesus. Yet, Marxist-derived Political Correctness has clearly invaded US Civil Religion, tainting what was once near default biblical mores. This would not have occurred if Christianity was still the source of our Civil Religion, which is the topic of this article.

I. Problem: The Mystery of Barack's 40% Poll Support

Given Barack's almost unbroken record of weakness and failure attributable to his invariable leftist policies, shouldn't his support be merely in the teens? With our economy moribund for years, how is it possible 40% still believe in Barack's leadership? Further, have not all the pitfalls of the Obama "leadership experiment" been exposed as incompetence and fraud defended by blaming and excuse-casting? With almost one out of every ten Americans unemployed, no jobs being currently created, and deficits ballooning by the trillions under his watch, how can Barack still thrive in polls?

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Yet, imagine if 10-20% of the population were swayed by PC to support Barack, simply because he was Black! Would this not help solve the mystery? Any other traditional politician would be hard-pressed to retain 20% support under current conditions. But Barack hovers between 40%-50% support. So there must be some reason people either ignore his failures, or make excuses for them. It would seem this is the results of Political Correctness which has come in to taint American Civil Religion.

II. What is Civil Religion

But what is Civil Religion in the first place? The Free Dictionary says...

Set of quasi-religious attitudes, beliefs, rituals, and symbols that tie members of a political community together. The concept refers to the virtues citizens need to serve the state. In the U.S. a strong sense of "American exceptionalism" and reverence for secular elements such as the national flag, the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, the annual holiday calendar, and the concepts of individualism and self-reliance.

According to Richey and Jones in American Civil Religion, there are five kinds of Civil Religion: 1. folk religion; 2. transcendent universal religion of the nation; 3. religious nationalism; 4. democratic faith; 5. Protestant civic piety. Consider George Washington's first inaugural address of April 30, 1789:

It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of man more than those of the United States. Every step by which we have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token providential agency... The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.. The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people.

Here one clearly detects Washington's admiration and acknowledgment of the biblical God's protections. But later, our national identity had clearly changed. By the time of John F Kennedy's inaugural speech from January 20, 1961, US politicians were adding socialist sentiments:

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom-symbolizing an end as well as a beginning-signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago. The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and to abolish all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forbears fought are still at issue around the globe-the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

Both speeches are splendid examples of American Civil Religion. Kennedy mentions the foundation of the Colonists and their biblical presuppositions, but adds to this the religious doctrines of leftism from the sources of socialism and Marxism. We see within this broad definition a structure which incorporates the beliefs of the people, with various public additions and subtractions, and presents this dogma as a lingua religiosa. In this amalgamation, the dictates and strictures of Political Correctness get added to the national creed.

III. Political Correctness as Civil Religion

So how is Political Correctness defined? It is Marxist doctrine smuggled into social settings. Bill Lind explains,

Political Correctness is cultural Marxism. It is Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms. It is an effort that goes back to World War I. If we compare the basic tenets of Political Correctness with classical Marxism the parallels are very obvious.

In other words, the PC movement only exists as a Trojan Horse to interject crippling, alien beliefs into America. But it does come in to add socialist values into the American ethos.

IV. PC as Cultural Marxism

But where did Political Correctness come from? German Marxists driven from Germany before WWII by Hitler of the Frankfurt School founded Political Correctness. States one site:

In 1923, Marxist intellectuals associated with the Communist Party of Germany founded the Institute of Social Research at Frankfurt University in Frankfurt, Germany. The Institute, which became known as the Frankfurt School, was modeled after the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow. In 1933, when Nazis came to power in Germany, the members of the Frankfurt School fled. Most came to the US. The members of the Frankfurt School conducted numerous studies on the beliefs, attitudes and values they believed lay behind the rise of National Socialism in Germany. The Frankfurt School's studies combined Marxist analysis with Freudian psychoanalysis to form the basis of what became known as "Critical Theory." Critical Theory was essentially destructive criticism of the main elements of Western culture, including Christianity, capitalism, authority, the family, patriarchy, hierarchy, morality, tradition, sexual restraint, loyalty, patriotism, nationalism, heredity, ethnocentrism, convention and conservatism.

V. PC as Propaganda

In examining Civil Religion, an example is apropos. We must not forget Nazism. As Herbert Richardson notes in his essay Civil Religion in Theological Perspective, from Richey & Jones' book, the linking of religion to any other activity effects both theological and sociological aspects. For instance, when the Nazi government put up posters, made public announcements--including speeches, or movies, like Triumph of the Will, they propagandized for the Nazi national cult. Only Nazi approved pastors and sermons were allowed, and all church property was owned by the state. Scholar Stanley Payne details Fascist political use of religion in History of Fascism, 1914-1945. He claims fascism was designed to be a foundation of a purely materialistic Civil Religion designed to "displace preceding structures of belief and relegate supernatural religion to a secondary role, or to none at all." In other words, both Judaism and Christianity would be relegated to the sidelines or made extinct by the Nazis. Karla Poewes, in New Religions and the Nazis writes,

The Nazi's primary motives were to usher in a holy new society that respected and groomed its race-specific biological and cultural heritage. To bring this about, they needed a race-specific religion. This religion was a form of paganism called German Faith. The notion of the Third Reich became the religious hope of salvation from the grinding needs of Germans during the Versailles era.

Again one finds at root in Nazi religion Joachim of Flora's idea of a religious paradise on earth, and as always, created by the hands of humanists. And, in the case of Nazis, this humanism boasted a debased core of antisemitism. Reads one poster where Hitler asks: "What do we want?" Below it says: "Citizens! Do not believe that the Germany of misfortune and misery, the nation of corruption and usury, the land of Jewish corruption, can be saved by parties that claim to stand on a foundation of facts. Never!" The idea here is not to claim Obama's administration is Nazi, Instead, it is that the PC movement is typically leftist in how it communicates its beliefs. This is much like other political religious creeds, constantly propagandizing its people of the importance and universal natural of its tenets.

Obama, Religious Propaganda & PC

How would we know if it were true that Obama had a Politically Correct edge? First, he would be found in a protected group. Second, that status would have been used as a strenuous argument to elect him. Third, he would not be held to the normal standards for failure, afterward as individuals are reluctant to criticize him for fear of being labeled "racist," etc. And finally, after he was elected, the mere category of his race would be held up as if Barack had accomplished some grand achievement. It has been obvious from the very beginning of Barack's ascent to the national stage that many of his supporters encouraged his being seen as more than human. Despite his not espousing Nazi beliefs, Barack's description as a messianic leader, especially chosen by God for his role in government is a cultic vision. Likewise, the Nazi leader was seen as a pagan savior of mankind, as discussed in Hitler, the Occult Messiah. Was Obama raised up as the avatar of a strange and menacing pseudo-religion combining elements of the American civil religion and Political Correctness? Yes. How else can one explain the absurd worship and genuflecting he encountered earlier in his reign? Don't forget Julio Osegueda's interaction with Obama at a Town Hall meeting, where he started, "It's such a blessing to see you Mr. President, thank you for taking time out of your day! Oh, gracious God, thank you so much!" And Barack's working the crowd that day was in the style of the Black Southern preacher. In general, between the leftist cult of the "Great Man" (Stalin or Mao), and Political Correctness' blind defense of people of special status, Barack has been well-protected. Consider, though--if Barack were not Black or the First African American president--how much harder the media might be on him.

VII. Conclusion

Let's cut to the chase. Would the average American rather be under the dictates of a biblical Civil Religion, or one mixed with Marx's Political Correctness? For example, would you rather be judged under PC's racist and sexist arbitrary rules, or statements like Paul's admonition in Galations 3:28-- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."? Or, is it better for the whole country that we accept the Ten Commandments like: "Thou Shalt Not Covet" & "Thou Shalt Not Steal"--or Marx's shady statement--"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"? These questions answers themselves. But when we accept these truths, perhaps then we will actually have the conviction necessary to remove imposters from public office, instead of simply sitting back hand-wringing while our nation gets flushed down the commode of history.