Healing the Wounds of War and the Messianic
What caught me off guard most about the debates last week came at the very end in a line McCain gave. While other people have pointed out McCain’s constant drawing on a warrior/hero/Maverick narrative to catch the hearts of Americans (a move meant to appeal to the deep ethos of our country’s history), I found it preposterous that he would so unhesitatingly appeal to the messianic:
I guarantee you, as president of the United States, I know how to heal the wounds of war, I know how to deal with our adversaries, and I know how to deal with our friends.
Christians watching could not help but be reminded of the biblical text:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 NIV-G/K)
Both candidates have at times wrongfully, in my position as a Christian, appealed to the rhetoric of nationalism at different points and this is an area I think all Christians need to challenge. To put it more strongly, I think Christians are the only ones who can challenge nationalism because we operate out of a fundamentally different loyalty than those who are not Christians. But McCain’s suggestion that he knows how to heal the wounds of war betrays a subtext, a symptom, of the kind of religious role politics plays in our country. This is none other than idolatry, and hopefully Christians will take their loyalty to the Kingdom of God seriously enough to challenge this kind of role-reversal of the messianic. Whoever becomes president is a person with gifts and faults, not the messiah who will do the work of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can heal the deep wounds of war, abortion, racism, hatred, and fear.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=051ac69b-233d-4da9-8457-cc0a7c5ed2cb)
Tags: John McCain, Messianic
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
October 4, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Although, there have been obvious cases of this type of rhetoric taking place in the conservative camp in the past (Pres. Bush’s equation of America as the “Light of the World” comes to mind), this particular parrellel seems a bit of a stretch.
More than appealing to some messianic paradigm, its probable that McCain, here, is simply rementioning his war record and taking note of the fact that, as a prisoner of war, he is familiar with the types of processes (emotional, physical and otherwise) which need to take place in order move on from such tragic and devastating experiences which are implicit in being a soldier.
October 6, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I agree that candidates often put themselves in messianic roles, and that the American public is all to eager to put them there.
However, I, like Cretts, think that this is pushing it. If saying you’re going to work for healing automatically means you’re a wanna-be messiah, no one would have an easy time following Jesus without receiving the same label. Healing is something we must all pursue, something we hopefully all have experience in. Perhaps John thinks its by his own power that he heals the world, or perhaps he does credit that power to something else. (I doubt it, given the way McCain answers questions about his faith, but…) However, I wouldn’t expect most candidates to make an explicit statement about their faith in such a context, anyway.
I, for one, don’t know how I would qualify such a statement were I talking about my experience leading groups in the area of diversity/ethnic reconciliation. “I know how to heal the wounds of racism,” sounds a bit pretentious, sure. But how likely would I be to stand up in front of the American people as a presidential candidate and say, “I have worked for reconciliation in the past, but please remember that I didn’t do this by my own power but by the power of Jesus’s resurrection which broke down barriers between people groups and has made them–or at least everyone that follows him–into one new family!” Now that sounds off-putting in a different way!
I think there are ways to show humility without explicitly making reference to Jesus’s power every other line in a speech. I wouldn’t characterize McCain as the most humble of them all, but I also think it’s unrealistic to think he’s going to constantly remind people how weak he is on his own.
October 6, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Thanks for the comments! What I’m getting at here is not that McCain is doing anything consciously, I don’t think he really thinks he has supernatural powers to heal the wounds of war. Rather, what I’m getting is that on a subconscious level McCain’s use of language betrays a deeper truth about politics in america. This is why I called it a symptom, or subtext, couched in a narrative where the leader of our nation is often seen as a “secular messiah.”
Let me explain this in two parts:
a) American politics utilizes religious-like rhetoric to back up arguments, make appeals to people’s hearts, and motivate hearers who hear a common thread of interests, etc through the religious. My feeling is that the church is meant to uncover the fallacy that American politics is itself a secular-religion where the church is not invited to participate. By infusing religious language into the political sphere and talking about things like “healing wounds” the subconscious religion of American politics peaks its head out. There are many other ways we can say, “I’ve gone through the long process of recovery from being in a war, and I can identify with others who struggle in that process” without tapping into the religious to do it. From where I stand, the church is called to be a prophet in our world, and speak truth to power. By keeping politicians honest, and pointing out the parts that they themselves fall into the trap of politics as secular-religion I think the church is living out its calling.
b) Another way to get at this question, or the loyalties behind it is to ask, “Who cannot heal wounds of war?” In this case, Obama, but more generally anyone who has not been a solider? Isn’t that exactly what McCain is getting at? Don’t vote for Obama, he’s never been a solider. And doesn’t this betray a deeper ideological loyalty in America to the warrior than the diplomat?
@Cretts – Yes, it’s possible that on the conscious level what McCain meant by this is that he knows the kinds of medicine, treatments, etc needed to overcome battle scars, but why didn’t he say it like that? Your wording is sufficient, succinct, and doesn’t assume a messianism. But even if this were the case, why has he made his own medical history so secretive?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/opinion/05rich.html?em
In other words, if he really is experienced in being “healed” and knows what it takes, and wants to appeal to that as a particular reason to vote for him rather than Obama, why doesn’t he actually appeal to it at a level where he allows himself to be open to sharing his own medical history? But he keeps that a secret, so a further question may be in order: has he himself been healed from the wounds of war?
@ashrebg – I agree with you that making an explicit statement about Jesus healing would seem awkward at the least, yet if anyone was going to do it an have it seem credible wouldn’t it be the person who caters to the Religious Right? I also agree about your point on pretension and ultimately, what you’re saying is something I’m putting forward. I’ll phrase my questions slightly different – “Do either candidates allow for humility within their speech?” Do they give credit where it is do, or do they conflate their self image? Do they give others the benefit of the doubt, or do they try to estrange those who see things differently?
I think that Christian virtues should be able to operate at this level without being unrealistic and something like your statement would be perfect: ““I have worked for reconciliation in the past, but please remember that I didn’t do this by my own power but… [I get help from my friends]?”
Thanks again.
October 8, 2008 at 8:31 am
I watched the debate tonight and there was a lot “I will put America back where it needs to be” talk. As if either candidate has the power to heal every one of our nation’s problems, only like God can. I know they can’t go out there with the microphone and be honest, no one would vote for them. But I definitely see what you are talking about because I see both candidates appealing to the Messianic.