President-Elect Barack Obama should be congratulated. He inspired so many people across the United States with his youth, vigor, passion, and charisma. He found a way to motivate people to participate in the political process who hadn’t been motivated to do so for years, if ever. He also gave people something to believe in during a time when many felt as though much was not working.
I just have a nagging feeling, however, that this election demonstrates something about our culture that isn’t necessarily positive. I don’t believe that it is because I disagree with much of Obama’s politics (although I do disagree with what appears to be Obama’s strong belief that larger government can solve most of our culture’s and nation’s ills); instead, it is something less tangible than that. And, regardless of my disagreement based on what little I do know, I look forward to seeing how Obama will lead our country and pray that he will do so in an excellent fashion. I really don’t think my concern has anything to do with Obama at all.
Here’s what I’m pondering that gives me pause. Over 64 million Americans just elected Barack Obama president, with more than 120 million Americans voting. As I think back on the election and on what I know about President-Elect Obama, I really don’t know much. What I think I know, based on what has been reported, is that he is considered the most liberal Senator in the U.S. Senate, but that is based upon less than 3 years of service, a lot of which was spent campaigning. In fact, during this latest Congress, because of the campaign and potential reticence to take a position during the election cycle, Obama missed over 46% of all votes taken!
President-Elect Obama may well be the most elusive candidate for President ever. Some might claim that media bias is at fault, but it likely is mostly an intentional effort on Obama’s part to create a persona that would weather attacks. This is smart campaigning on his part, to his credit, but it says a lot about our political system and our culture, because it seems that the best candidate becomes one who hasn’t taken much of a stand on anything. Conviction is out; complacency is in. Transparency is out; opacity is in.
It seems that over 64 million Americans voted for an idea – something that is more style or intangible than something of substance. We elected youth and exuberance. We voted to be a “part of history.” We voted for change, without knowing what we were changing to.
Look at our culture.
Our heroes are actors. People who are really good at imitating and faking. People who are all about how they look and appear.
Our heroes are sports stars. People who are really good at doing something that makes no real difference in our lives.
These things simply give us something to occupy our time with mindlessly. These things aren’t bad in and of themselves, but we give them priority in our lives by spending more time and money on such things than on anything else. We can enjoy distractions, but they shouldn’t become our focus.
It seems that we are more occupied with fluff and appearance than we are with what really is going on about us. And, I predict that it won’t matter what Obama does substantively because we will simply be looking for how we feel about him and about how things appear to be going. Obama will likely enjoy a good ride because he is a master at giving the impression that he’s got things under control, and we are more interested in impressions and “magic” than we are in reality. We seem to have given nearly all authority to the media industry.
It seems like we are closer to 1984 in 2008 than we were in 1984. I wonder if we will continue down that dangerous path. 
Now, having said all of that, I don’t like negativism and pessimism and I must finish with a positive. The good news about all of this is that it demonstrates how powerful faith is. When we believe in something it makes a difference, even when what we are placing our faith in is empty. Thus, when we believe in Truth, it makes all the difference.