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Saved in Hope: Pope Benedict XVI, The Audacity of Hope: Barack Obama

Hope against hope: Obama and the Pope



(This review was first published 4 years ago in Chronwatch. Because Chronwatch is now defunct, it is no longer available online. Given recent events, I thought you might like to see an updated version- RKE.) It so happens that in the last election cycle two books were circulating that had hope as their theme. One was a thick book, "The Audacity of Hope," by then presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama. The other was a thin book, "Saved in Hope," by Pope Benedict XVI. The two books couldn't be more different.
Readers not only have a choice between thick and thin, but between American English and Ecclesiastical Latin. They also have a choice between the secular and the sacred. As one man moves forward with campaign rallies that look like religious revivals, the other man moves backwards and allows the revival of the Latin Mass. In one book we read about a God who becomes man and in the other we read about a god who becomes theory. We have a choice, don't we, between a secular socialism and a religious individualism? Between thick and thin we also have two different perspectives on the word "hope." One man hopes for abortion on demand while another hopes for the birth of new life. One man hopes for gay marriage and another hopes for a renewal of the traditional family. One man hopes for a rise in the size and power of the liberal state, while another hopes for individual rights.

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The thick and thin differs even more. One wants us to believe in change and the other wants us to believe in the Eucharist. One hopes for the liberalism to come while another hopes for the world to come. One seeks the votes of liberated lesbians while the other asks for the intercession of the Virgin Mary. Furthermore, one author hopes government will solve the fundamental problem of existence, while the other author believes the end of hope is not in this world. Political commentators claimed that Obama's presidential campaign captured the attention of the world. Senator Obama was cheered on by many who aren't even American citizens. Could it be there is world wide resentment for America and Western Civilization, and Senator Obama represents the fruit of that resentment? Such is the Messianic hope that collapses into political hope for the end of European hegemony. It is ironic how the Pope and the Senator call on their gravitas to draw people into their vision of hope. Does each wear his own mask, as well, and if they do, what is behind that mask? The Pope tells us suffering is a setting for learning to hope. The Senator asks, "Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?" It seems sometimes western Civilization is always in conflict with itself. "The audacity of hope," and "saved by hope" may be yet another skirmish in that protracted civil war. In this conflict there are those who believe liberalism can never be proven because it is a theory that starts from above and tries to impose itself upon the world. Likewise, there are those who believe we should start with the flesh and blood of man in the world, the Incarnation, and then reach for what is above. Hope may be the common currency between these world views, but we should be aware of what it buys. The same price may get us into heaven or hell. The world has seen times and politics like this before. The thrashing about of the lost and their blank stare when they have seized upon the meaning of the moment is nothing new. Nor is the death and social chaos that follows politics gone amuck. The Romans saw "In nihil ab nihilo quam cito recedimus: How quickly we fall back from nothing to nothing." The left turn made by the boomers in the 60s that got us on the highway we now travel, has led to a bumpy road. Many in that generation have gone from one nothing to another. Enter, now, Senator Barack Obama. His election may be their last chance to hold on to something. Let's hope it's not a rope that follows the bucket into the well of despair.


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Robert Klein Engler -- Bio and Archives

Robert Klein Engler lives in Omaha, Nebraska and sometimes New Orleans. Mr. Engler holds degrees from the University of Illinois in Urbana and The University of Chicago Divinity School. Many of Robert’s poems, stories, and paintings are set in the Crescent City. His long poem, “The Accomplishment of Metaphor and the Necessity of Suffering,” set partially in New Orleans, is published by Headwaters Press, Medusa, New York, 2004. He has received an Illinois Arts Council award for his “Three Poems for Kabbalah.” Link with him at Facebook.com to see examples of his recent work. Some of Mr. Engler’s books are available at amazon.com..


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