Obama is not the messiah, people

Why does this still need to be said? From the Obama Messiah blog:

EAST POINT, Ga.—The day after Barack Obama was elected president, Larry Younginer knelt in front of the congregants at his suburban Atlanta church and offered a prayer of thanks.

"Lord, we have again come to you in prayer, and you have heard our cries from heaven, and you have sent us again from the state called Illinois, a man called Barack to heal our land," said Younginer, a 62-year-old retired information systems worker at Coca Cola in Atlanta. "We pray that you will build a hedge around him that will protect him from those who would do him harm."

Younginer, like many others, is convinced that Obama was destined to be president. The mere fact that he won the presidency against the odds has caused some Christians, particularly African-Americans, to see the hand of God in his victory after so many years of struggle.

[...]
[Lawrence Carter, dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel] said many people look for a sign from God when times are turbulent. And, he said, there are many elements to Obama's win in which Christians can find spiritual significance.

"It is powerful and significant on a spiritual level that there is the emergence of Barack Obama 40 years after the passing of Dr. King," said Carter. "No one saw him coming, and Christians believe God comes at us from strange angles and places we don't expect, like Jesus being born in a manger."

Historic win? Sure. Bush Administration over? Sure. But Obama is just a politician, people! I've been watching this type of thing for over a year now (see IOTM blog), and it has me scared, really scared, about the future of this country. A country so completely blown over by the promises of a smooth politician with a silver tongue. Sure, I want things to get better. But even if Obama had a hand in it, he's only one part of the government and cannot possibly live up to all of his promises. One friend told me not too long ago that he has an unshakable faith in Obama. Unshakable faith! I warned this friend, who ordinarily condemns religion and religious folks as ignorant and sheep-like, about the folly of putting your faith in a mere man and politician, only to be rebuffed. "Obama!" he cried, maniacally.