This is my first diary. I am not a US citizen, but my wife is, and she is an avid supporter of Barack Obama and a Kossack that goes by 'Hawaiian'. Her enthusiasm made me lurk here for some time, and I eventually joined the ranks of foreign Kossacks.
I am South African. White. Social Democrat Liberal (-6.62; -6.62). I will write a future diary about the parallels between what transpired in South Africa when we got our first Black President, and how I see the current events in the USA. However, as today is Sunday, I thought I will share some thoughts on why I think religious fundamentalist should listen to their Bible and support Barack Obama.
In apartheid South Africa, we were indoctrinated with "Christian National" education. Hence, I know my Bible very well. I told the Hawaiian that I don't understand why the fundamentalist right in the USA are not supporting Barack Obama, as the Bible tells of someone by the name of Barak as a great leader, who delivered the flock of God from its enemies.
Yes, you read that right. Please allow me to explain below the fold:
The Hawaiian also did not want to believe me at first, so I started reading up, and yes, the Bible makes clear reference to a great leader by the name of Barak. The prophecies associated with these references should be good news for the fundamentalists. They also contain some chilling references to the current situation in the USA.
The religious right has been touting the meme that Barack Obama is the Antichrist. Some diaries have been written about it here and here. In fact, the opposite is true, and if you are faced with this drivel, you can perhaps use the following in response:
The name "Barak" appears in two books of the Bible, namely the book of Judges, and the book of Hebrew. To understand the references to Barak in the book of Judges, please allow me to firstly outline the context for those who did not suffer the benefits of Christian National Education:
Historical Context
After Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land, God called on Joshua to conquer the Canaanites who occupied the land. Joshua's conquests are described in the book in the Bible with the same name. The next book in the Bible is the book of Judges and recounts the history of Israel after the death of Joshua: the conquests were not completed, and there was no clearly defined leader for the Israelites. They were surrounded by their enemies. They would 'fall into sin' by praying to the gods of their enemies, and as penance, God delivers them into the hands of their enemies.
God then uses 12 men and a woman as 'judges' to come forward in these times of crisis to free their fellow citizens from their oppressors. The 'judges' were Otniel, Ehud, Samgar, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelek, Tola, Jaïr, Jefta, Ibsan, Elon, Abdon and Simson. Through these judges God continued His personal government of Israel. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary).
Deborah
Although this book is called "Judges", only one of the leaders mentioned actually 'judged' for the Israelites. This was a woman by the name of Deborah. Deborah acted as God's mouth to Israel: correcting abuses, and redressing grievances. She was a woman of extraordinary knowledge, wisdom, and piety, instructed in divine knowledge and accustomed to interpret Gods will; who acquired an extensive influence, and was held in universal respect, insomuch that she became the animating spirit of the government and discharged all the special duties of a judge, except that of military leader. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
Deborah comes to the fore under circumstances where the Israelites are severely suppressed: The northern Canaanites had recovered from the effect of their disastrous overthrow in the time of Joshua, and now triumphed in their turn over Israel. This was the severest oppression to which Israel had been subjected. But it fell heaviest on the tribes in the north, and it was not till after a grinding servitude of twenty years that they were awakened to view it as the punishment of their sins and to seek deliverance from God. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
Deborah and Barak
The story of Deborah (and Barak) is told in Judges 4 and 5. Judges 4 is recounting the history of the events, and this history is repeated in Judges 5, which contains the Victory Song of Deborah and Barak. As different translations of the Bible contains minor deviations in translation, the site Biblos.com provides comparisons between translations. The gist of the story in all translations is however the same, irrespective the translation. I will use the New American Standard Bible to set the scene:
Judges 4:1-9
- Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died.
- And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
- The sons of Israel cried to the LORD; for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
- Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
- She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.
- Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, "Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.
- I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’"
- Then Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go."
- She said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Following this exchange, Deborah ordered Barak to raise an army of ten thousand men, and engage Jabin's forces under the command of Sisera. Sisera and his troops got very scared, and Sisera jumped of his chariot and fled on foot. Sisera arrived at the tent of a woman by the name of Jael. The rest of the story is fascinating:
Judges 4:17-24
- Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
- Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid." And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
- He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him.
- He said to her, "Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’"
- But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.
- And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.
- So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel.
- The hand of the sons of Israel pressed heavier and heavier upon Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan.
The Victory Song on Deborah and Barak, as captured in the next chapter, retells the story, and there is a couple of interesting verses that are worth considering, from different translations:
Judges 5: The Song of Deborah and Barak
4&5. O Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the country of Edom, the earth quaked, the sky poured, the clouds burst, and the mountains shook in the presence of the LORD God of Sinai, in the presence of the LORD God of Israel (GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995))
- The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. (King James Bible)
9&10. My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless you the LORD. Speak, you that ride on white asses, you that sit in judgment, and walk by the way. (American King James version)
- Listen to the voices of those singing at the wells. Over and over again they repeat the victories of the LORD, the victories for his villages in Israel. Then the Lord's people went down to the city gates.
- Get up! Get up, Deborah! Get up! Get up and create a song! Barak, attack! Take your prisoners, son of Abinoam. (GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)) (My Afrikaans Translation uses the following words: "Barak, make Prisoners of War of those who held you captive")
- So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. (King James Bible)
There are many more interesting references in Judges 5, but this can get boring, so I will try to get to the interesting part. Just one more Bible quote for today: The New Testament also makes reference to Barak, as follows:
Hebrews 11:32 - 39
- And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.
- Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, received promises, shut the mouths of lions,
- put out raging fires, escaped death by the sword, found strength in weakness, became powerful in battle, and routed foreign armies.
- Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
- Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment.
- They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated.
- The world wasn’t worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and from caves to holes in the ground.
- All these people won approval for their faith but they did not receive what was promised,
- since God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be perfected without us.
(International Standard Version)
Interesting analogies
I think most of the analogies are self evident. Israel was heavily suppressed by an evil ruler for 20 years. Then God came to a respected woman, the first woman referenced in the Bible as a leader, and the first person in the Bible that delivers judgment. She calls on Barak to get his troops together to battle the evil Sisera, pawn general of Jabin, and his army of chariots and footsoldiers. Sisera flees, his army is demolished, and he finds refuge in the tent of a woman who he thinks is going to be kind to him. She brutally murders him.
The Hawaiian and I had interesting debates regarding what this 'professes' for the present day situation. We both agreed that Israel, in this case, is the USA. Barak is Barack. Jabin could either be Cheney or Rove or any of the Bushes or... too many evil rulers to pick from. Sisera? No question; McCain. Military record, but running like a coward, not an honorable man. And if Sisera is McCain, then could Jael be Sarah Palin? Or could it be the cancer growing on his temple?
But who is Deborah? We first discussed Hillary or Michele as a possibilities, but it did not want to gel. After some good debate, she came up with, what I think, is the answer: Deborah is Justice:
Here is the analysis of the prophesy then: Justice commandeers Barak to get an army together to combat the oppressors who held the nation captive for 20 years (Republican control since Reagan = 20 years). Barak has one condition before accepting this task - he will only go if Justice goes with him. Justice is on his side, and on the battlefield with him. The enemy is defeated. Barak makes prisoners of war of those who held the nation captive. The military commander of the enemy is slain by a woman he thought to be on his side. There is forty years of peace in the country.
Finally, Liberty meets Justice.
Now wouldn't that be grand? As lesbians, this picture means a lot to us!
If you read up to here, thank you. Hope I did not bore you to sleep!
To conclude: Barack Obama will win the election. Through faith in Justice, and with Justice by his side. It is written in the Bible.
As a sidenote: I grew up in privilege in the 1970's and 1980's when 'apartheid' was at the height of its reign. What is happening now in the USA reminds me SO much of those fantastically nervously exiting times in the late 80's and early 90's in South Africa when I was a student, anti-establishment activist, and could proudly participate in our first democratic elections to elect Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela as our first black President in 1994.