Did you know that Mahatma Gandhi was nominated 12 times between 1937 and 1948 for the Nobel Peace Prize and never won. Let me repeat that, Mahatma Gandhi, “the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century” (as stated on the Nobel website) never won the Nobel Peace Prize!

in the interval, we have seen many worthy recipients of the Norwegian’s prestigious award, Dr. Martin Luther King, jr., Ralph Bunche, Henry Kissinger, Mother Theresa, Lech Walesa, Desmond TuTu, and  Nelson Mandela to name a few of the more illustrious names.

Then you have those who have won that fall under the “Not really?” category. Mikhail Gorbachev and Yasser Arafat yes; Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher not as such, no.

Then you have the, “we get it Norway is liberal and drinks the kool-aid” winners like Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan. Followed by the “good googly moogly” Al Gore?” Really?

Some of these folks I freely confess would not have gotten my vote if my name just happened to be Thor and I had a vote to cast. But be that as it may, they all have the virtue of having done something to at least be considered. Whether that something was or was not worthy of a win is a debate that can be had at your leisure elsewhere.

The comic nomination and subsequent awarding of the hitherto esteemed Nobel Peace Prize to our President Barack Obama; has plunged the Nobel committee and it’s again, once relevant award, headlong into the always unfortunate and truly sad “jumped the shark” territory. A land incidentally not far from the Isle of Misfit Toys.

The nomination deadline for the Nobel Prize is February first, Mr. Obama’s Inauguration was January 20th. As the names of the nominators are sealed for some fifty years after the prize has been awarded, we will not know for some time who thought Obama should be up for the award after less than two weeks in the office of President of the United States. I will not belabor the innate silliness of the President having won the award, let us instead consider the concept of humility and humility’s close fellow, obligation.

Many people came to John the Baptist thinking he was the Messiah who was soon to come. How did John deal with these people? What did he tell them? Did he allow them to remain in ignorance? Did he accept their adulation?

“John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judæa, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.” Mark 1:4-7

No, it seems John the Baptist set the people straight.

How about Peter?

“And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.         

Acts 10:25,26

Nope! He wouldn’t allow himself to be the one who was glorified either.

Check this out:

“And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:” Acts 14:8-16

St. John the Baptist, Peter the Rock, Paul who God used to write a huge portion of the Bible and the Apostle Barnabas all share a couple of things in common. 1. they actually did something seemingly worthy of worship; at least to those who were to that point ignorant of the ways of God. And     2. they all humbly deflected man’s mistaken glorification of them, to the One who was truly worthy. This is what Christians do.

Most of us have seen the Gamaliel Foundation video as they beseech Obama to hear their prayers and deliver them, we have seen Ashton and Demi pledge to serve Obama, not the country, but Obama. We have seen Farakhan call President Obama the messiah... As a Christian, wouldn’t you feel an obligation to make a clear and loud statement denouncing this sort of madcap behavior? Instead we see a proliferation of this sort of thing.

This latest one is particularly grievous for me as a Christian and as a Black American, as Glenn Beck rightly points out, this is the Battle Hymn of the Republic a song written during the Civil War to serve as a rallying cry for the newly formed Black regiments in the Union Army, which became the favorite of all men who served in the Union fighting for freedom. It is primarily a worship song dedicated to Christ.

Just some of the words:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword His truth is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish`d rows of steel,
"As ye deal with my contemners, So with you my grace shall deal;" Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel Since God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

This song reveals a deep understanding of  Christian theology which ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery, and would be a good thing to teach those children as a lesson of the important driving factors that spurred arguably the most important American conflict. Those teachers who taught  their perverted version of this great historical and meaningful song to those young American children, have replaced Christ with Obama! This is a bad thing to remain silent about!

Leadership demands a noble obligation which includes a humble service to those you have been given charge over. The chivalrous code that undergirds that noble obligation precludes the honest and just from taking undeserved credit. One must have a strong character as a man to live up to that rather lofty expectation. Further, one must have a strong faith and a true relationship with the Christian God the President claims to worship, to be humble enough to set the misguided straight. I have not seen the President exhibit either of these qualities. I pray for him that someday he will!

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14

Digital Publius