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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Friday, June 06, 2008

Picture of the Day - Monkey God?



Maybe with the "secret Muslim" stuff bouncing around, you ought to put the monkey god away.

(Amongst the things that Barack Obama carries for good luck are a bracelet belonging to a soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler’s lucky chit, a tiny monkey god and a tiny Madonna and child. (Brooks Kraft/TIME))

(PS. As Todd points out, the Monkey god is Hindu. My point was, that "strange" to middle America is not good.)

posted by mikevotes at 7:28 AM

7 Comments:

  • Hanuman (the monkey god) is Hindu, not Muslim. I'm guessing that you knew that, but you are making the point that most people wouldn't.

    Unfortunately, the ignorance of most Americans when it comes to non-Christian religions is astounding. When the Dalai Lama visited Minnesota a few years ago, a couple of Republican state senators objected to "honouring an Islamic cult leader in light of 9/11" or something along those lines. They were quickly ridiculed and silenced by their own Party, and it educated others.

    Hindu-Americans already got a rude awakening last summer in the flap over a Hindu prayer in the Senate. This is an interesting contrast. And while their numbers may be small, the kind of people who would base their vote on something like this probably wouldn't have voted for Obama anyway.

    By Blogger Todd Dugdale , at 10:54 AM  

  • I have no idea.

    My implication wasn't intended to be that it was Muslim, but just that, with all the junk going around, I wouldn't think he'd want to throw that anything seemingly different out there.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:07 AM  

  • Ah, I had thought that the "secret Muslim" remark implied that the monkey god charm would be construed as Islamic.

    The real issue, however, is "should he be who he is or should he be what people think he ought to be?"

    He hasn't got where he is by being generic, and that is what Republicans are going to use against him.
    When it comes down to it, I think that he is carrying any kind of good luck charms at all is ammunition. It smacks of paganism and superstition. YMMV.

    By Blogger Todd Dugdale , at 11:34 AM  

  • Wearing an American flag lapel pin isn't a bit of a good luck charm?

    By Blogger matt, at 1:26 PM  

  • Todd, it's just different, and with him fighting that false image, I think he should shy away from stuff like that. In this specific case, because of the background problem, I think he should go vanilla.

    I wasn't really intending much by this post. It was just meant as a quickie observational snark.

    ....

    Acid, Yeah.

    Have you ever wondered why alot of those crazies don't wear little gold cross pins?

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:41 PM  

  • Myself I think the picture shows spiritual depth and intelligence. For 99% of Americans it instills fear and superstition.

    We really haven't come too far from the Salem Witch Trials.

    By Blogger matt, at 1:51 PM  

  • We really haven't come too far from the Salem Witch Trials.

    Good point.
    Politically, we haven't come very far from Sophocles' time. Let's hope those charms work for Obama, lest he be accused of corrupting the young and gets handed a cup of hemlock.
    A quick check at RedState doesn't show anyone making accusations of witchcraft, sorcery, or secret Hinduism. He may have dodged a (metaphorical) bullet here. Score one for Hanuman.

    By Blogger Todd Dugdale , at 4:14 PM  

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