Barack Obama - Supporters And Opponents, Please Respond

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


BH - I know short posts are frowned on so I'll try and elaborate a little.

In one of his books Terry Pratchett called hope the "greatest gift" and I think this is true. I also think you hit a nail on its proverbial head in your post.

Right now - Obama offers hope to many that need and want it. That's a very, very good thing. With hope so much is possible. Howver, the danger in pinning so much hope on anythingis the risk of let-down that come if all the hopes don't work out.

I guess my view of him would be. Support him? Sure, I hope he does really well in office and helps the country overcome the current problems.
Think he'll always solve everything and make everyone happy in the process? No, he's human so he'll mess up every so often.

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
Everybody answer Question 1:

1) I consider myself a supporter of Barack Obama. Yes or No.

Yes.

Do not answer both questions 2 & 3. If both are answered, that response will be discarded.

2) I believe Obama is more than merely human. I consider him a Messiah figure, a savior, perhaps sent from God (or my equivalent). Whatever words I use, I consider Obama more than just a man. Yes or No.

Do you consider Obama a messiah figure? No.

Did you support Obama for his policies? Yes.

Did you support Obama for ideological reasons? Yes

Do I think the anti-Obama crowd here are hypocritical for using the "messiah" excuse as the reason he won? Yes, with the hype of Bush in 2000 (see jesus camp) and the worship towards Palin, Reagan and joe the plumber, yes I believe its pure hypocrisy on their part... lets not forget the non-objective hype crowd for Ronny Paul on the internet... now thats what I call messiah folk... jeeze do you have to make every word he says a thread! for petes sakes not everybody thinks the world of the man!

Do you think the last 8years of failed conservative policies assisted Obamas win? Yes I do, I think any democrat would have gotten a lift from that fact, but yes they still both had fair exposure and objectivity.

Do you believe conservatives are hypocritical for persuing false stories on the internet as opposed to the obvious lies and mishandling from the last administration? Yes.


[edit on 29-1-2009 by southern_Guardian]

1) I consider myself a supporter of Barack Obama. Yes or No.

Yes, because he's the POTUS.

2) I believe Obama is more than merely human. I consider him a Messiah figure, a savior, perhaps sent from God (or my equivalent). Whatever words I use, I consider Obama more than just a man. Yes or No.

No.

3) I believe Obama supporters in general consider Obama to be more than a man. I believe Obama supporters think of him as a Messiah or savior figure. More than human. Yes or No.

No. A large minority do though.


Sorry I cheated a bit...

reply to post by Open_Minded Skeptic


1. Yes
2. This is ridiculous. No.

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic

1) I consider myself a supporter of Barack Obama. Yes or No.

Yes.

2) I believe Obama is more than merely human. I consider him a Messiah figure, a savior, perhaps sent from God (or my equivalent). Whatever words I use, I consider Obama more than just a man. Yes or No.

No.

But you might as well have worded it: "I am a deluded fool. Yes or no." Your objective in asking is pretty obvious.

I might point out that many evangelicals believed George W. Bush was chosen by God to be president, and he believed it himself. Republicans didn't run around muttering about Kool Aid then, because he was one of them.

Anybody who is in the public eye as much as Obama has been is going to have some people who project all sorts of hopes or fears onto them.

I've got another question you should add:

I am paranoid that Barack Obama has come from the devil to mesmerize and hypnotize the American people and is going to lead us all to mass suicide as in Jonestown or worse. Yes or No.]/b]

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
1) I consider myself a supporter of Barack Obama. Yes or No.

Yes.

2) I believe Obama is more than merely human. I consider him a Messiah figure, a savior, perhaps sent from God (or my equivalent). Whatever words I use, I consider Obama more than just a man. Yes or No.

No.

Originally posted by Sestias
Your objective in asking is pretty obvious.

I'm curious how you read this. What do you think the objective of the OP is?

I've got another question you should add:

I am paranoid that Barack Obama has come from the devil to mesmerize and hypnotize the American people and is going to lead us all to mass suicide as in Jonestown or worse. Yes or No.

Hey, there are people here who believe that! I've seen their posts!

Some interesting responses, here, including some very interesting untested assumptions regarding my position on these questions, and my motives for asking them.

Said motives are that I have heard frequent charges by those opposed to Obama that everybody that supports him considers him a "Messiah", a "Savior", and even a "God". Links have been posted to quotes by some that at first blush appear to support this.

My contention is that these charges are ill-informed, and are being made more as a third-grade-playground maturity sort of 'poke' than as something to be taken seriously.

I also contend that the links provided to supposedly support these charges indicate the existence of a fringe element, the far end of a Normal distribution, rather than anything significant. Assuming even these people really, actually consider Obama to be such. One question I would put to any of these fringe people is: "Do you really, literally think Barack Obama is more than human?". I consider it more likely that this kind of speech on their part is also more rhetoric than substantive.

The fact that not one Obama supporter responding to these questions has indicated a Yes answer to question 2 leads me to conclude that these charges are indeed ill-informed, and made for reasons other than factual, and are therefore to be safely ignored. So to that degree, this thread has been successful.

And in case anybody gives a damn, my answers are:

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
1) I consider myself a supporter of Barack Obama. Yes or No.

Yes

2) I believe Obama is more than merely human. I consider him a Messiah figure, a savior, perhaps sent from God (or my equivalent). Whatever words I use, I consider Obama more than just a man. Yes or No.

No

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
Some interesting responses, here, including some very interesting untested assumptions regarding my position on these questions, and my motives for asking them.

Said motives are that I have heard frequent charges by those opposed to Obama that everybody that supports him considers him a "Messiah", a "Savior", and even a "God". Links have been posted to quotes by some that at first blush appear to support this.

My contention is that these charges are ill-informed, and are being made more as a third-grade-playground maturity sort of 'poke' than as something to be taken seriously.

I also contend that the links provided to supposedly support these charges indicate the existence of a fringe element, the far end of a Normal distribution, rather than anything significant. Assuming even these people really, actually consider Obama to be such. One question I would put to any of these fringe people is: "Do you really, literally think Barack Obama is more than human?". I consider it more likely that this kind of speech on their part is also more rhetoric than substantive.

The fact that not one Obama supporter responding to these questions has indicated a Yes answer to question 2 leads me to conclude that these charges are indeed ill-informed, and made for reasons other than factual, and are therefore to be safely ignored. So to that degree, this thread has been successful.

And in case anybody gives a damn, my answers are:

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
1) I consider myself a supporter of Barack Obama. Yes or No.

Yes

2) I believe Obama is more than merely human. I consider him a Messiah figure, a savior, perhaps sent from God (or my equivalent). Whatever words I use, I consider Obama more than just a man. Yes or No.

No

Perhaps you should have expanded on the use of the term "Savior" and asked the question... "Do you consider Obama the Savior of the U.S.?" Although the people who participate on ATS' boards probably would not adhere to even this.. I do think, from the signs around my town at least, that there are alot of people who think that Obama will save the U.S.

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
Perhaps you should have expanded on the use of the term "Savior" and asked the question... "Do you consider Obama the Savior of the U.S.?" Although the people who participate on ATS' boards probably would not adhere to even this.. I do think, from the signs around my town at least, that there are alot of people who think that Obama will save the U.S.

Good point, and yes, there is probably something of value to be learned from asking that question. The "Savior" claims I've seen, however, have more of a religous overtone than merely thinking or hoping that changes in policy implemented by Obama will have a positive effect on the US and general world situation.

For example, the trickle-down economic theory has been proven, through extended application, to be a complete and utter failure. Obama claims to be working towards a different economic model, that may work and may also prove to be a failure... only time will tell on that front.

So we can ask if someone considers Obama's different policy approach to be something that will save the slide of the US into oblivion. I'm honestly not sure if the random person would use the term "Savior" in that context. I know I would not.

1. Supporter of Obama's?

The question is too vague. Do I believe the man thinks he's doing the right thing for America? I believe he started out thinking that, but I believe he is slowly but surely becoming as corrupt as a typical politician. Do I agree with his policies? That's the question you should be asking. My answer: Most of them no. So I'll go on record as saying no to the whole question.

3. Do I think the other party regards him as a God or Messiah?

Not all of them, but clearly some do. Case in point: I can guarantee you the Conservative party didn't start the discussion about whether Obama was the reincarnation of JFK or MLK, Jr.

1. Yes 2. No! not in the least! He is human just like me. He exhibits intelligence and willing to listen to others at the same time.

Originally posted by sos37
I can guarantee you the Conservative party didn't start the discussion about whether Obama was the reincarnation of JFK or MLK, Jr.

Reincarnation does not imply that someone is "more than a man". It is not the same as a Messiah or savior figure. If someone believes in reincarnation, they think everyone is reincarnated, making everyone equally human.

A messiah or savior figure is like what many believe of Jesus. Many believe he was more than a mere human. That he had special healing powers and was the son of God and rose from the dead. That's "more than human".