Posted by
Kari Berele on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 1:27:04 AM
I may take some flack for linking Martin Luther and Rush Limbaugh, but I really do see some similarities. No analogy is perfect, but some are quite salient. For example, picture a man who articulates ideas that have sat latent and unexpressed for years; picture a man who helps return a core group to its roots; and finally, picture a man whom some regard as arrogant and others see as confident in his beliefs. In the 16th century you would be referring to Martin Luther; today, you could mean Rush Limbaugh.
Like Martin Luther, Rush has had to stand firm against a hoard of enemies: liberals, the main stream media, moderate Republicans, and, today, some fellow conservatives. Luther’s enemy was the Catholic Church. It branded Luther as a heretic and burned his books in an attempt to silence him because it feared his influence. The clergy recognized the danger of the common people becoming free thinkers and revolting against the bedrock of control that the church had enjoyed for centuries. Similarly, our current democratic-run government sees created dependency and unparalleled spending as a means of control and fears those who shout from the hills about this misuse of power and the relentless robbery of our freedoms. Both the resurgent talk of the Fairness Doctrine and the current Rush-Republican-Leader debate are means of silencing or pillaging our first amendment freedom to speak out against unbridled government control.
One striking similarity between Rush and Martin Luther is the belief in freedom. The core value of a conservative is that of individual liberty and individual responsibility. Luther interpreted Scriptures to mean that humans had an inner relationship of faith with the Lord—they were less reliant or beholden to what was happening on the outside. Rush knows that through hard work, diligence, and risk taking that individuals can achieve great things. It’s so easy to criticize the successful—I’ve done it—but I learned that many of the so-called wealthy sacrificed a great deal to earn what they have. We have the liberty to succeed and to fail; to win and to lose; to achieve and to fall short. When the government seeks to correct that, we become debtors to its overreaching hand. Freedom offers promise, not guarantees. Like Luther pointed out, we are to “work out our own salvation” and not become a slave to an institution. Likewise, Rush teaches that we are responsible—the government is not there to direct our lives.
Luther’s teachings changed the world, though not the way he expected. The result was not a change in Catholic doctrine, but rather the birth of a new church that eventually separated even further. Perhaps questions persist about who leads the Republican Party because we are also splitting into two distinct entities—those who seek to be inclusive, less “right,” if you will, and those who strongly hold to the core beliefs of conservatism and are not wavering. Perhaps like Luther, Rush is the catalyst for change—the kind of change that solidifies conservatives while at the same time producing some new kind of Republican. Whether we meet together—moderate Republicans and conservatives---to form a unified brotherhood or whether we go our separate ways, remains to be seen. Sometimes change is good.
Regardless of the present furor in the Republican Party, most would agree that Rush has helped our cause. He spoke our thoughts when no one else was speaking. We owe him for that.
Martin Luther and Rush Limbaugh--two strong-willed men with core beliefs that thrust them to the forefront of their times. You might not agree with my analysis, and that's okay, but I do think you will agree with this:
Tenacious Martin Luther even had plans for his enemies after his death, and I think that Rush would concur:
"When I die, I want to be a ghost...So I can continue to pester the bishops, priests and godless monks [the left, the liberals, and the mainstream media] until that they have more trouble with a dead Luther [Rush] than they could have had before with a thousand living ones." --Martin Luther