Morality – The act of turning the other cheek!

The 2008 presidential election has thought me so many lessons, one of which the act of turning the other cheek is a key part of and I wish to share this with you.

In my curiosity, I consulted oxford dictionary on the definition of ‘morality’. Apparently, ‘Morality’ is the principle concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour. Charles Dickens said “The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life”. In the words of Charles Stanley Lee “turning the other cheek is a kind of moral jiu-jitsu”.

I remember the first time I read a part of the bible that teaches eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. I quite liked it because I’ve always liked the idea of ‘justice’. You hit me, I hit you back. You stab me in the back, I stab you back (well, that’s if I survive your first stab). I have to admit that I didn’t quite like the new testament of it that says when someone slaps you on the right cheek, you turn the left. I used to ask my Sunday school teacher, turn the left and receive another or do what exactly? From where I came from, they call people who do that “Mumu”. That simply means a moron and a fool of the highest order. But then the more I studied the bible the more I discovered that Jesus didn’t teach us what he could not do, he was a “Mumu” of the highest order in order to be the wisdom of the Highest God. But then one might say, that’s Jesus…

This presidential race has brought the human side of the 2 candidates to test in so much that you don’t need a microscopic eye to see through them anymore, neither do you need to be a psychologist to know who is who. Over the years, the belief has always been that when the going gets tough for politicians during a campaign, to get a bit of momentum, they have to turn a bit dirty and negative. And if you look at the trend, when one party turns negative, the other follows suit and the whole thing becomes what it is, politics.

6% down in all the major opinion polls across the country and 30 days to go before arguably the election of the century, the McCain camp “rightly” did what a “normal” political party would do, looked for all the skeletons their opponent’s cupboard and tried to convince the voters that their opponent is a human carnivore. They dug out names, history, associations and sat to discuss what they were going to do with the findings. From that point, they were already playing with the boundaries of morality. They began to lose sight of the reasons why they set out to run for the election in the first place. They set out to do as much damage to the image of their opponent as possible. And you know what, going by history; it has worked over the years. This is politics!

What was surprising however was the reaction from the opposition. Please understand that what happens in a political campaign is mostly decided by the top man. So if the top men (Obama and McCain) decide to go pound for pound on negative campaigns, their respective camps will follow suit as we saw in the case of McCain. McCain went out with full force, Sarah Palin followed, and so did the whole Republican Party faithful. The attacks ranged from name calling; terrorist, Muslin, Arab, etc, to the point that some shouted “kill him” when Obama’s name was mentioned. Again remember what I said earlier on, this is politics, it’s all part of the game. Some say they were pushing it, others say lets wait and see how Obama reacts… Indeed!

Ladies and Gentlemen, what happened next has changed my life and the way I react to allegations and criticisms, and that’s why I’m blogging on this. In the mist of all of that, right at the centre of that kind of dirty of politics, Barack Obama said and I quote “They can call me all they want, but this election has never been about me, it’s about the American people”. What!!! I yelled at my at TV set. I was like Obama…. You’ve got to be joking, you will lose this election Obama, you need to fight back and talk about McCain’s dirty past too - like the “Keating Fund”, “dirty days as a fighter jet pilot”, “8 homes?” etc. “Come on Barrack you have to hit him back”, I exclaimed, but this guy simply turned the other cheek.

Admittedly, maybe he didn’t want to do the dirty job himself and wanted to let his wife do it on Larry King live. It really was Michelle’s opportunity to respond to Cindy McCain’s allegations, Sarah Palin “Palling with the terrorist” connotation and John McCain’s Bill Ayers saga. What did Michelle do? She said she respects them all; it’s just a difference in opinions….
Friends, at that point, I saw a potential United States of America’s first lady. A graceful woman. An absolutely class-act and a true example to all. The indelible impression that left on me will remain for the rest of my life whatever happens in this election. That in all of those personal attacks, these two key figures remained true to who they are, what they are made of and what they believe in (Morality), that my friends is what I call turning the other cheek.

Why am I blogging about this?

Well it’s because sometimes we are barraged with all sorts of allegations and negativities and really the “right” thing to do is to defend ourselves by fighting back. But silence is the most powerful answer an old Chinese proverb says. Silence my friends is not a sign of weakness, it’s a true sign of inner strength. Saying nothing sometimes says the most, another proverb says. Can you imagine if Obama had gotten dirty with McCain? I bet the world would not have been able to separate the wheat from the chaff. So the next time they slap you on the right cheek, turn left, lets teach the world the act of turning the other cheek!

Credit Crisis, an Act of God?

It reminds me of a sweet story in the bible (for those who read it). It's a few thousand years ago and God had a plan. He wanted His own man to be the Prime Minister of a foreign land - Egypt. It wasn't going to be easy so God had to do something radical, something crazy and unorthodox. He introduced a global crisis called famine. Both Main Street and Wall Street were feeling the pinch. The markets came tumbling down. Investors were withdrawing their money and keeping it under their beds. It was so bad that there seemed to be an urgent need for a 'redistribution of wealth'. A close to $700 Billion bailout plan (back in the day) was put in place to ease the tension but still there was a need for a man that would manage the food in the land of Egypt. In other words, they didn't at that time request for a military man, that was not the need for such a time as that. They didn't call for a war lord, that was not the need for such a desperate time as that. What they needed was a manager of resources, a kingdom distributor, a motivator, a visionary or an influence. Guess what, God's main man Joseph was selected.

Thousands of years later, a US election has been tipped to be the greatest ever in terms of interest around the world and everything/everyone that depends on it. 8 months ago, it was easy to believe that the black guy from Hawaii with the funny name would defeat an American sweetheart - Hillary Clinton in the Primaries. However, make no mistake that even 'That One' himself 4 months ago after gaining the Democratic ticket thought that he stood a good chance against the "Real Maverick", a war hero and an American veteran. Come to think of it, Obama is an example of what is referred to on the Wall Street as a baby boomer. He was an MBA holder, turned lecturer, turned Community Organiser, turned Senator. Oh, and only really boomed 4 years ago after becoming a senator. So really when talking about odds, they really were stacked against him from start. No wonder the question of his experience came in. Rightly so! Because never in the history of American politics have you seen a 2-year old senator running for president. Even young Bill Clinton was already a Governor before attempting the giant leap.

The thought of all these began to make me wonder if Barrack Obama was/is a man with a plan or if there is a God with a plan behind him. Youth and experience were the attacks from Mr John McCain on Obama. It got to a point in early August that Obama had no answer anymore because it was clear that McCain was more experienced, and the race was neck and neck. But McCain's foreign policy was being used as the main criteria for the experience needed to become the most powerful man in the world. At the time, it was a valid criteria because the only true global crisis was Terrorism. Little did we know that there cometh a crisis that would hit the world (including terrorism) to its roots, that only a different kind of experience, which might not necessarily come with age or military experience can handle. That crisis my friends is the Global Economic Crisis.

As a result of the GEC (Global Economic Crisis), the last 2 months have really put the 2 candidates to test on the biggest question of all, who is the man for this job? I listened to an 11 year old answer this question on CNN and I was shocked at how McCain is perceived even in America now. The boy said and I quote, "Obama's really cool, it makes you feel that everything's gonna be alright - just like my dad would act. But McCain makes me really worried that my mum would not be able to afford my school fees". In the simplest of terms, that boy put everything this election is now about into context. See, there are certain qualities that you don't train for I've come to understand. There are certain skills that you don't acquire from experience, they are called innate qualities. In my dialect we say "Abini bi ni, kii se ability" - it simply means, you're born with it, it's not ability. And no matter how many times you rehearse your speeches, the true you still shines true somehow. They say if you really want to know what a man is made off, put him under some pressure. The whole world witnessed how Barrack was 'ice cool' under pressure. Not only pressure on America, but a global pressure. That my friends is what you need to be the most powerful man in the whole universe and the polls are there to show it.

Can you imagine if the problem we have had to face during this campaign was a major terrorist attack? Trust me, McCain would have naturally be seen as the man. No wonder McCain camp said "if we keep talking about the economy and the financial crisis, we are going to lose". Unfortunately for them, there is nothing else to talk about for now.

Disclaimer: Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that this is another act of God, and I'm not saying God has inflicted the pain of credit crunch on the world for the sake of one man and one nation. I will leave that for you to judge while I wait to fly to DC on the 5th of Nov. for a historic celebration. But what I do know though is that God can go to any length to get His 'elect' elected.