Unchurched

James Taranto writes about the fervent emotions that Barack Obama engenders in some of his supporters. "Barack Obama is nothing but inspiring--so inspiring that it is becoming deeply creepy." Mr. Taranto goes on to cite similar reservations from others, most of whom are Democrats who will likely vote for Senator Obama in the general election should he become the party’s nominee.

Per Obama voter Kathleen Geier:

Excuse me, but this sounds more like a cult than a political campaign. The language used here is the language of evangelical Christianity – the Obama volunteers speak of "coming to Obama" in the same way born-again Christians talk about "coming to Jesus."

Ms. Geier is onto something. When as a young boy I heard Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, I was nearly brought to tears. Dr. King knew how to use his powerful speaking voice, Biblical symbols, and poetic imagery to uplift an audience and call it to action. It was my first exposure to the preaching style that is familiar to Southern Baptists and evangelical Christians, and over the years, like many of us who spend our Sundays sitting in pews, have come to recognize and control the powerful emotions these words can produce. (By the way, I still get chills when I hear that speech.)

Barack Obama is not the oratorical equal of Martin Luther King—who is?—but he is the best that this generation has heard. I dare say that young people are flocking to him not only because they are in agreement with his policies (which don’t differ too much from Hillary Clinton's or John Edwards'), but because few of them by attending church regularly have been inoculated against the cadences of preacherly oratory. Barack Obama is only a man, with very little walk to measure against his talk. His followers' disappointment and anger when he is eventually defeated may be frightening to behold. © 2008 Stephen Yuen