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Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize
I was surprised by the news that President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, because I didn't know he was in contention. But I am not surprised that world has taken notice of his efforts to breach the chasms that have separated people for so long and which have seriously jeopardized world peace.
I have often wondered if trying to follow and do what Jesus the Christ asked those who believe in him to do is appreciated or even respected.
It seems to me, in reading the Gospels, that Jesus promotes good will between people. Through countless examples, Jesus tried to show how people were to live and to love each other. The Christ seemed earnest to point out that there were religious people, plenty of them, without a clue about how God's people were to treat each other.
We were to love our neighbors as ourselves, implying, of course, that we do love ourselves. We were to love God with "all our mind and all our heart ... and our neighbors as ourselves." We were admonished to forgive the people who are not good to us, and to love our enemies.
Tough directives, but nonetheless at the crux of the Good News.
So it has been refreshing to see how Obama, a Christian, has been attempting to do what his faith demands.
That effort was apparently not lost on those who voted to give him the Nobel Peace Prize. It was for the "tone" that he is setting in striving for world peace, and the hope that tone is evoking, that he was awarded the prize.
The complaints, blatantly political in their tone, excoriate the president for not having done anything. They lift up, correctly, I think, that Ronald Reagan didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize, and he did a good thing by working to end the Cold War. I was not a Reagan fan, but still get goosebumps when I remember him saying, in Berlin, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
It doesn't get much better than that.
But in this day, when the threat of nuclear war is staring us in the face, a settling of the rancor between nations seems a wise and good thing to do. Whether or not we in America like North Korea, Iran and Pakistan will make no difference if the leaders of those country feel marginalized and disrespected and in order to garner respect, resort to nuclear warfare.
What Jesus sought to do, and what it seems Christians are supposed to do, is to, as Obery Henricks says in "The Politics of Jesus," is to "treat the needs of people as holy." Taking it a step further, it seems that Christians, in loving their neighbors as themselves, ought to be working as a unit to see people as humans with needs and feelings, and not as objects.
I think that's what Obama has been trying to do. I think he has been trying to say that the world should be more inclusive and tolerant, not less so. I think he has been trying to show us, and the world, that all people, all of whom were created by the same God, are worthy of respect.
Just as Abraham Lincoln fought to save the Union in the Civil War, I believe Obama is trying to preserve the Union. With massive, worldwide destruction possible with the pushing of a button or a simple phone call, it seems that awarding the president for trying to set a tone which will make way for compromise, discussion and ultimately, peace, was a good thing.
By
Susan K. Smith
|
October 9, 2009; 8:09 AM ET
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Posted by: tyson41 | October 11, 2009 4:24 PM
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I agree and I applaud Obama's efforts to try and bring equality and peace between ALL people. I believe that he has certainly made good strides at doing so in the United States and abroad. Although I was not sure at first why he was being awarded the Prize, I believe his efforts at promoting peace between the foreign nations with nuclear weapons is notable and although this honor will bring tons of criticism from "the haters" I hope that he continues to strive for such goals in his presidency.
Posted by: spellady08 | October 10, 2009 11:58 AM
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Very well said. I think the Nobel committee recognized what Obama is trying to do, and in their way encouraged him to continue the his efforts at bring respect to the dialogue for peace.
Posted by: DaryleQ | October 9, 2009 3:32 PM
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Yes!!! The President is setting the tone, but also working hard to carry the tune! He is just one man there is only so much he can do, but as you have said before, I hope he stands in the opportunity to move forward in promoting peace, for he may have been brought to this moment for such a time as this!