Stop Hyperventilation over Obama

Listen, I’m no fan of Barack Obama, but the hyperventilating about him saying he wants to establish “a kingdom on Earth” while speaking from a pulpit over the weekend is apropos of nothing. It’s typical religious language, and hardly means he wants to declare himself king.

You’d expect right-wing pundits to know this, since a significant part of their coalition is the religious right, but apparently enough of them are ignorant that they started firing the cannons without thinking about it.

A similar hyperventilation occurred on the left (and in Europe) during the 2004 elections when Bush said he “talked to God” a lot. This is commonly used in many Christian groups as a euphemism for “Prayer.” When my European friends (I have many) came to me concerned that Bush was an out-of-control theocratic freak, I explained to them that the phrase essentially meant nothing; Bush wasn’t saying he spoke and God answered, but rather using a linguistic construction that churchgoing people of his faith would understand to mean praying and living a Christian life. No more, no less.

So give Obama a break on this, already. There’s plenty to criticize him for without digging this up.