Wednesday, 05 November 2008
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Barack Obama: Nehemiah 2.0?
Last night, after Barack Obama finished making his speech, I watched Anderson Cooper's show on CNN, where one of the political commentators drew an intriguing parallel between Obama's victory speech and Nehemiah's speech after he inspected Jerusalem's walls. The commentator mentioned that like Nehemiah, Obama focused on the "we" during his speech rather than the "I" ("Yes We Can," anybody?) I thought this was kind of interesting considering the variety of responses Obama's received from the Christian community. I hadn't read Nehemiah in awhile, so of course, I busted out my Bible and checked out the reference:
"You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." - Nehemiah 3:17.
Here's are a couple portions of Obama's speech, for comparison:
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term, but America, I Have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you: We as a people will get there.
And above all, I will ask you to join uin the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
The commentator's point was that like Nehemiah's speech, Obama's (and his whole campaign message, basically) downplayed the role of the leader as a powerful individual and, rather, as a vehicle for reform; that is, they give the civilians a more active role in the rebuilding process by emphasizing how much work needs to be done, and how much everyone needs to cooperate.
Did you watch Obama's victory speech? What did you think about it?
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