Why Do We Love To Hate Obama? Ask C.S. Lewis

In “The Last Battle”, C. S. Lewis’ last book of “The Chronicles of Narnia”, the story centers around a donkey, Puzzle, who impersonates the Lion Aslan, who is the allegory for Christ in the novels. The book is striking because its allegory directly refers to the real source and nature of evil as defined biblically.  In the Bible, we are taught that the root of man’s fall is that he desired to be like God, knowing all good and evil. This rebellion was incited by Satan, who desired to be like God and in fact attempted to usurp God’s authority.  Satan’s sin, then, was to pretend to be God, or as powerful as God. And this, then, is the root of all evil: the fraud or pretense of wisdom.

Understanding this is key to understanding the polarization of views that defines our opinions of Barack Obama.  To many people, Barack Obama is a pragmatic centrist.  When the right makes him out to be a liberal leftist, anyone who does not share this viewpoint is extremely puzzled by it. Here’s the issue – they don’t see Barack Obama for who he is – they see him for who he makes himself out to be. They aren’t really applying moral discernment to their opinion. They are fooled by what’s on the surface.

But even this does not explain the animosity on the right for Obama.  All politicians make out carefully crafted images for themselves. So why does Obama engender such hatred among us? This is not just because he governs as a liberal. That’s bad enough, but there is more to it; and this is where C.S Lewis helps us to understand. The reason we hate Obama so much is that he reminds us of the nature of evil that we all have consciences to discern. We hate Obama because he is a fraud, who pretends to be something he clearly is not. Who pretends to be a consequential, great leader. Who pretends to be wise. We hate Obama because he disregards the truth. Because he says one thing but acts in an opposite manner. Because his ‘issues’ and ‘achievements’ are fabrications.  Because he sets up strawmen and takes them down, claiming to have a ‘spine of steel’. Morally discerning people with God-given consciences hate a fraud because, in God’s eyes, fraud is the root of evil. And so, Obama strikes a deep, dissonant chord in our souls, put there by our Creator.

The end of the C.S Lewis story, of course, is instructive. Eventually, the fraud of the donkey Puzzle pretending to be Aslan is brutally exposed. We, in this country and, indeed, worldwide, are very near to the point when unfolding events will demand truly wise leadership. Economic collapse is coming, brought on by out-of-control financial systems, rampant debt, and declining resources. New global instabilities such as Middle East upheaval, a declining Europe, and an unstable China have the world on a catastrophic crash course with crisis. Freedom-loving and discerning Americans see that we, indeed, have a donkey pretending to be something he is not at the helm and are on the verge of granting him 4 more years to cement the results of his incompetence. This is the message we need to be making in the few remaining days before the election.  Look at the record. Look at the incompetence. Look at the broken promises. Don’t leave America in the hands of a pretender.

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