Louis Farrakhan: Barack Obama Is "The Messiah"

Mark Whittington, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Oct 10, 2008 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

Minister Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam, has declared Barack Obama to be the Messiah. Farrakhan did this at a gathering last February, but the video has just hit Youtube and is causing shock waves.

Farrakhan said, "You are the instruments that God is gonna use to bring about universal change, and that is why Barack has captured the youth. And he has involved young people in a political process that they didn't care anything about. That's a sign. When the Messiah speaks, the youth will hear, and the Messiah is absolutely speaking."

There are a number of frightening and bizarre implications in this pronouncement. For one thing, declaring a human being to be a divine being is heresy, even in Farrakhan's peculiar brand of Islam. Not even the Prophet Mohammed is considered a divine being, as Jesus Christ is in Christian sects, but rather as simply a man who received the message of God.

The movement surrounding Barack Obama has always seemed to have less the air of a political crusade than that of a cult. Barack Obama has even encouraged this phenomenon with the Greek temple backdrop during his convention acceptance speech. Obama has talked about the levels of the ocean receding and the planet healing, should he become President.

Obama supporters have referred to Obama as "The One", and other terms that suggest not a political figure to be admired and supported, but a religious figure to be followed and even worshiped.

There are obvious problems with this kind of approach. A political figure in a democracy can be supported or opposed according to the values and wishes of people in that democracy. But if Farrakhan's pronouncing Obama as the Messiah is a wide spread belief, then Obama takes on the mantle of a religious figure, doing the work of God, as Farrakhan said in his speech. And who dares oppose the will of God?

Of course those who do dare oppose Obama might find themselves in peril, especially if Obama becomes President. This would not, probably, be a matter of law, though one would suspect that an Obama Administration would push the envelope in trying to suppress opposition to his agenda. Rather, overzealous followers of the Cult of Obama the Messiah might be motivated to take matters into their own hands.

Louis Farrakhan himself has not been above issuing death threats against perceived enemies. When an African American reporter for the Washington Post, Milton Coleman, reported on some anti Semitic remarks made by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Farrakhan said, "One day soon we will punish you with death." Farrakhan has made a number of bigoted statements against Jews, whites, gay people, and even mainstream African Americans and has praised Adolf Hitler. One has to ask the question, if Farrakhan was willing to threaten a reporter with death simply for reporting the facts about Jesse Jackson, what would he be willing to do on behalf of Barack Obama, "the Messiah?"

Barack Obama has denounced Louis Farrakhan and his views, just as he has William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright (himself a political ally of Farrakhan.) It might, however, be useful if Obama were to go further. He should make a speech in which he denounces the idea that he is "the Messiah" and condemn anyone who spreads that idea.

On the other hand, maybe Barack Obama secretly likes the idea of being worshiped. That kind of thing can be heady, even for an ordinary politician. Being cheered by thousands of people can be a boost to the ego. But it takes a real man, who knows he is only a man, to ignore all that and to acknowledge humility. If Barack Obama can't do that, maybe that is one more reason he should not be President of the United States.

Sources: Will MSM Report on Louis Farrakhan Declaration of Obama as the Messiah?, P.J. Gladnick, Newsbusters, October 9th, 2008
Louis Farrakhan Biography, Answers.com

Published by Mark Whittington

Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington... View profile

Louis Farrakhan: Barack Obama Is "The Messiah"

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