Biblical Tropes in John McCain’s Speech

Most everyone is familiar with these aphorisms from the Bible:

 לִפְנֵי־שֶׁבֶר גָּאוֹן

וְלִפְנֵי כִשָּׁלוֹן   גֹּבַהּ רוּחַ

Before disaster, pride;

before a fall, a haughty spirit.

(Proverbs 16:18)

Most people know it this way: “Pride goeth before a fall.”

כִּי־אֶת־אֲשֶׁר יֶאֱהַב   יְהוָה יוֹכִיחַ

וּכְאָב אֶת־בֵּן יִרְצֶה

For the Lord chastises the one he loves,

like a father, the son he favors.

(Proverbs 3:12)

Like most voters, I’m just getting to know John McCain. I haven’t made up my mind who I will vote for. But the following passage in McCain’s convention speech struck me; there is nothing boilerplate about it:

On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause more important than me.

Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn't feel so tough anymore...

A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I'd been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I'd been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.

McCain makes clear that he knew he needed to be broken. I’ve listened to a lot of speeches by politicians in my life. It’s not easy to find other examples in which a politician lifts up the work of an enemy as something that they meant for ill, but God for good. It’s an open question whether or not John McCain would make a good president. But there is no doubt that he understands a thing or two about the shape of life.

HT: Jay Cost

Comments

[J. K. Gayle]

John, Another great post about a great man, John McCain. Again, you and Hugo Schwyzer seem to be cross-posting; his today is "John McCain, pagan Roman: on the saving power of patriotism, and a most extraordinary speech"
http://hugoschwyzer.net/2008/09/05/john-mccain-pagan-roman-on-the-saving-power-of-patriotism-and-a-most-extraordinary-speech/. (I also posted today on the words of this heroic man, but in a very different direction. And you should know that NLT joke of yours got me at first too--"you've got to be kidding" I was thinking).

[Bob MacDonald]

John - I too see some honesty here. As A Canajun of course I won't be voting. But if I were, it would be for the left not the right. Did you do a similar analysis of the Biblical tropes in Obama's speech? - Some republicans I read did not like what they seemed to think was shilly-shallying - does the government do this or do we? I think they should reread Galatians 6 and hear Paul on the tension between the body and the individual. May wisdom inform the voters of the US.

[Alan Lenzi]

"I’ve listened to a lot of speeches by politicians in my life. It’s not easy to find other examples in which a politician lifts up the work of an enemy as something that they meant for ill, but God for good."

Did McCain actually say god meant it for good? It's no where in the quote above. Or are you falling for the Bible allusion manipulation that politicians so often employ?

I'm on the look out for Bible language that sort of winks and nudges at the religious types who can't vote for someone unless they quote scripture. Both sides do it, too, it seems to me.

[JohnFH]

Alan,

You are right. I read the quoted passage from McCain's speech in light of my own cultural background. I did not mean to suggest that McCain or his speechwriter had the specific passages I note in mind.

Indeed, I would doubt that. But the tropes are there, and they are biblical.

[JohnFH]

Bob,

What I liked best about Obama's speech was the faint echo I heard of Jeremiah Wright's preaching. Of course, the latter is persona non grata right now, but not to me.

[Karen]

I agree that McCain knows a thing or two about the shape of life. He knows a great deal about survival. I knew he was a POW, but I didn't know the details or the extent of his physical suffering, the mental and physical punishment, the torture and long imprisonment. I did not know that after his captors gave him permission to leave that he refused to go while his fellow prisoners remained behind bars. Or that because of this stern refusal, that HIS PUNISHMENT BECAME MORE SEVERE. Perhaps others know these details, but it gave me a new and different perspective about this man's character and the stuff he is made of. I'm not a biblical scholar, nor do I quote scripture, so that is of less importance to me. I do know a thing or two about the science of survival and the qualities and character of someone who is a survivor. Character to me speaks to the open question.

[JohnFH]

It doesn't seem right now that McCain has much of a chance of being elected.

But I assume he will continue to serve in the Senate and serve his country with distinction in that capacity. I for one see that as a plus for the nation.