America is about to pick the man to lead us into the next four years, for better or for worse. Watching the daily news and opening each morning's newspaper on the Metro, I've spent some time considering the meteoric rise of Barack Obama. What caused a virtually unknown junior Senator to rise so rapidly to claim the attention of the media and to win his party's ticket for the presidential seat? Yes, he's charming and charismatic and has a beautiful family. But of his substance, we know little, and yet 49% of the country (according to the latest Gallup poll) is willing to elect him as President of the United States. What is creating such quick loyalty and trust? I think it boils down to an inherent need in our society.

We are watching our society collapse economically, morally, and politically. Wall Street alone in the past few weeks has kept many fear-stricken. It has also become increasingly difficult for parents to steer their children away from the moral erosion in our entertainment industry. Society is looking for a message of deliverance everywhere we look.

And thus, Obama's message of hope and change appeals to those looking for deliverance in some shape or form. But we are looking in the wrong place -- and this stands true no matter your political affiliation. We will not find the solution to society's ills in Barack Obama or John McCain or any other man.

Author and founder of Higher Standard Enterprises, Inc., William Owens, Jr., conducted his own little informal poll of black American voters, randomly asking those he saw with Obama stickers in their car and store windows why they were voting for him. In his book, Obama: Why Black America Should Have Doubts, he writes of his findings: "I will tell you flat out, most could not give me a good solid answer..." In fact, Owens was startled by the level of trust one young man was willing to place in a candidate he did not know. The young man proceeded to tell Owens that he felt an Obama presidency would improve his lot in life. When Owens asked him what he believed in, he shook his head and said, "Nothing really." This young man was ready and willing to put all his faith in one mortal man to change his life, because he had no belief system to sustain him.

An African-American and family man himself, Owens writes in his book:

Let's face it; we are likely headed for tough times in America...It's hard enough to feed, clothe and educate a family today, let alone worry about holding the line against a growing tide of negative and degrading output from an increasingly irresponsible entertainment industry...As Black American mothers and fathers, we must rethink whey we are voting for Barack Obama. If you are not spending quality time in the lives of your children, what exactly are you expecting Barack Obama to do?

While his book is clearly partisan, Owens points to the right source of help. No man, no matter how eloquent his promises, will give us the answers we are looking for. No matter the circumstances of the world around us, no presidential nominee offers the answers to our biggest needs. It is not a government that provides answers, but its people, and ultimately its God. Owens writes, "The evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable: a strong family is the best safeguard against poverty and despair...any hope we may have in Barack Obama is misplaced. The real hope and change we desire starts at home." And ultimately, in a Higher power.

Owens concludes: "Black Americans can't afford to be pimped into thinking we have found a sugar daddy. We who place our trust in God Almighty already have a Father."

No matter who wins this election, mankind has had to learn again and again, throughout the ages, that man-made institutions are not our salvation. We need a Savior.

(Image © iTouch Publishers)

Comments

[Diane Singer]

We do, indeed, Angelise. Good post.

[salt.racer]

The comments from the young man remind me of a saying:

"If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything."

[Zoe]

"The evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable: a strong family is the best safeguard against poverty and despair...any hope we may have in Barack Obama is misplaced. The real hope and change we desire starts at home." And ultimately, in a Higher power.

Amen to that!