When I started attending BYU, I began to see that these conservative politics could definitely trend in more unfortunate and disturbing directions. It was at BYU that I first heard accusations of communist sympathies and adultery against Martin Luther King, for instance. I found it odd that decades after the civil rights hero's death, such accusations were the stuff of casual conversation in the halls of BYU. I also saw more clearly the unthinking gender bias that afflicted the community in the editing of the Rodin exhibit among other things.
It is a real treat, therefore, to follow Dr. Peterson's blog, where one is confronted with similar political opinions. Recently, I have been struck by the contrast between Daniel's defense of Ann Romney against the horrors of being identified as a person who has never held a full time job in her life (I don't know for a fact that Ann Romney has not held a full time job in her life, but I hardly find the charge grossly unfair.) and his lampooning of the messianic rhetoric of Obama panegyrics.
Let me be clear here. I find the Obama panegyrics a little difficult to listen to, but then I imagine I would have also found Pliny the Younger's Panegyricus for Trajan difficult to swallow as well. As much as I enjoy *studying* the worship of earthly rulers, I detest the act itself at the same time. I find it undemocratic in spirit, and it is especially troubling in a country that is increasingly losing its grip on what the Republic is all about, if it has not lost it altogether.
In the case of an LDS scholar at BYU ridiculing Obama panegyrics, however, we have yet another case of the stunning blindness human beings have of their own foibles while identifying--and distorting--the errors of others' ways.
Having lived through the financial meltdown of this country, I would say that, whatever one may think of Obama's handling or mishandling of it all, one could say that the sky has not fallen, we are not covered by the mountains, and we can still breathe. If Obama and Co. want to spin that into "leading us out of the darkness and into the light," I may not be enthusiastic about that language, but I can see where one might at least see that as within the realm of arguable, albeit heavy-handed in its poetry.
If, however, I were accustomed to the culture of the African American Christian congregation, I might not find it as uncomfortable. The biblically laden and poetic language of the black sermon is similar to Michelle Obama's description of her husband's leadership. It may also be more acceptable, for those who are accustomed to such sermons, to hear a figure like Michelle Obama use such language. Does it strike me as odd? You bet. But I did not grow up listening to those sermons.
Dr. Peterson implicitly takes Michelle Obama to task for using such language, however, citing scripture and inveighing against likening any human leader to God. One wonders whether the irony of his fulminations is completely lost on him:
1. Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah.
Jesus' anointed, "that Prophet and Seer,"
Blessed to open the last dispensation;
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
CHORUS
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven,
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain,
Mingling with God's he can plan for his brethren,
Death cannot conquer the hero again.
2. Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest is his ever great name;
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
Stain Illinois, while the earth lauds his fame.
Hail to the Prophet, &c.
3. Great is his glory, and endless his priesthood,
Ever and ever the keys he will hold;
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
Hail to the Prophet, &c.
4. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man!
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice,
Millions shall know "brother Joseph" again.
Hail to the Prophet, &c.
(Notice the presentation of Joseph's palm in a manner reminiscent of the Christus statue.)
My point in all of this is not to say that Mormons are wrong to offer a form of worship to Joseph Smith. My disbelief comes in Dr. Peterson's lack of reflection here. He remains absolutely tone deaf to the context of the panegyrics of Obama, and at the same time he will happily sing "Praise to the Man" next week at sacrament meeting. Sure, one can poke fun at the messianic language applied to a mediocre president of the Unites States, but heaven forbid that one find anything odd about the adoration piled upon Joseph Smith, Jr.
I would think it best to leave such matters well enough alone, if I were Dr. Peterson. If ever there were a case of people in glass houses throwing bricks, this has got to be it. Truly the intersection between religion and politics in this country remains an arresting subject. I can't get enough of the odd and intriguing things one observes in this area.
*Were I able to engage Dr. Peterson at Sic et Non, I would do so, but he does not allow comments.
