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Obama bows to emperor of Japan AP Photo
He did it again. First of all, President Obama bowed to the Saudi King when Obama went to visit. Speculation was that it could possibly not be a bow and the jury was deadlocked. Most were giving him the benefit of the doubt. But now, without question, he bowed to Emperor Akihito and Empress Akihito of Japan.
Would Obama bow if he met Jesus?
Apparently, in the Japanese culture, the President’s very low bow is one that shows great respect and deference to a superior. Bowing to leaders in other nations is not standard operating procedure for American presidents. Meeting with other world leaders generally requires dignified handshakes signifying recognition of both positions. Up until this presidency, no American president has EVER bowed to a foreign leader.
So Obama has bowed twice to world leaders. Questions bubble to the surface regarding why he does that. He does not generally transmit an air of humility but of confidence and superiority to those around him. Does he believe these nations are superior to the U.S.? Why would he do it?
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Obama bows to Saudi king April 2009 AP Photo
The question still remains for which we cannot really answer-- what would Obama do if he were to meet Jesus in person? Would he bow? Lay prostrate before Him? Give Him a hug as Mrs. Obama did with the Queen of England?
Apparently, the world was aghast with such a display of familiarity in England. Obama has also displayed such closeness with Chavez and Castro.
As Christmas approaches, we’ll be hearing refrains from The Messiah referring to Jesus as the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” Not only is it a good question to ask about Mr. Obama but other world leaders. What would they do if Jesus, in his full glory, walked into a U.N. meeting?
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Mrs. Obama hugs Her Majesty, the Queen of England AP Photo
And to get even more to the personal level, what about ourselves? Do we see Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords or do we just mouth the words? Would we bow before Him? As Catholics, do we bow before His presence in the Eucharist?
If we truly believe as the Church teaches that the Eucharist is the full presence of Christ, we should.
Scripture tells us that ultimately every single person from those in high positions to the lowest of the low will bow before Our Lord.
Romans 14:11
"It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.”
Philippians 2:11
“…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
These are good questions upon which to ponder. It is your turn to weigh in with your thoughts.
Comments
Actually, the bow is simply a traditional Japanese greeting and good manners. Nothing more, nothing less, and certainly nothing to write a ridiculous, whiny article about.
what is he doing!!!!!!! stop that he sure likes to bow alot.. makes me sick he looks like a bafoon. it was totall unecessary bowing. theres a reason why people think its wrong and i am a christian and say he doesnt bow to jesus.
pucker up and kiss my deriere. let's all get on the raft and float down the river.
What is ridiculous is the President of the United States bowing before ANY world leader! The ONLY person he is supposed to bow before is God! Bowing before any man shows his weakness as a person and gives the impression that the USA is a weak nation. Unfortuantely, our dear President obviously doesn't understand concepts like integrity, honor or respect. If he did he would respect and honor the people who elected him rather than some kings and political leaders in foreign lands. I thought he was supposed to be so smart?
For too long Americans have acted in gross arrogance towards their fellow human beings across the world. Obama is attempting to mend the damage to America's image that has been marred by high-mindedness, arrogance and self-imposed importance. Too long Americans have refused to listen to other voices, to other opinions in spite of being a "democratic" country. The Bible says "God resists the proud and exalts the humble." For 25 years a little democratic nation (New Zealand) stood up to the most arrogant nation in the world and said to its face "NO nuclear weapons or nuclear powered ships in our ports." Now America finally realises its mistake in acting like a "spoilt child" for the last 25 years, when its doen't get its way in world affairs. It's time for a geniune lesson in humility and respect. It's a time for repentance for America's sins.
Actually, the bow is simply a traditional Japanese greeting and good manners. Nothing more, nothing less, and certainly nothing to write a ridiculous, whiny article about.
Bob, you work for the White House? Wonder how long shall it take for the average fat-ass American to realize that Obama is an anti-American agent..
Anti-American agent. Riiiiiight. Time to adjust your tinfoil fedora, Yuri.
What would Obama do if he met Jesus? Are you kidding me? Let's see, tomorrow's column: what would Obama do if he met The Tooth Fairy? or The Wizard of Oz? Who cares what he would do with figments of your imagination, and yes, there is absolutely no historical proof that Jesus existed. I cannot believe I am reading this column. Oh sometimes I miss the days of print. It spared me from tearing my hair out on nonsense.
I like Obama's mom. A woman of intelligence, hard work and reason. Her son, I'm not so sure about sometimes but at least he acknowledges in some small ways this is not and never has been a Christian nation.
Jesus. He bows to the head of a culture that highly prizes bowing, and you think Jesus. Yeesh.
"Apparently, the world was aghast with such a display of familiarity in England."
Oh, this is such bull. We were surprised because the Queen is usually formal to such a degree that they made a FILM about her public perception -- you may have heard of it, "The Queen"? Anyhow, it soon became clear that the Queen was the one who touched Michelle first (HUGELY unusual) and appears to find Michelle somewhat awesome. Understandably.
Most of us thought it was a nifty example of even the Queen meeting people she liked. Probably because they went out of their way to learn something about her and her habits and culture. You know -- like BOWING.
"King of Kings and Lord of Lords"
Do really believe that stuff? God bless America.
The President of the U.S. should not be bowing down to anyone unless it's a mutual bowing. Japanese emperor didn't bow. As much as I dislike Cheney, he did the proper thing by not bowing in 2007. Clinton bowed too, and I think this is laughable. When you're the president, you represent the U.S. No more bowing down to foreign kings and nobles. Who is he gonna bow down to next? Kim jung-il?
That's sort of like asking if he'd bow to Huckleberry Finn, Thor, or any other imaginary character.
Lawyers, Guns and Money has a post showing several photographs of President Eisenhower meeting world leaders. I can't post the link here for some odd reason, but anyone curious can google it for themselves: Lawyers, Guns and Money: The Dwight D. Eisenhower Bowing Hour! Those who claim former presidents haven't bowed are mistaken. Obviously.
As for what our current president would do upon meeting Jesus... Assuming Jesus' identity was verified--there have been many since that first Easter claiming to be Jesus, and we certainly couldn't have our president bowing to the first guy off the street CLAIMING to be Jesus--I suspect he would bow and show all due respect, as would most world leaders and peoples (including those who don't currently believe.) As soon as Jesus started whipping out those miracles, as He did to convince folks the last time He was here, there'd be a whole lotta brand new Christians... ...though they may call HIM by a different name, of course.
It's nice that finally one of our foreign reps is showing a little cultural sensitivity
I understand the cultural issue... but there are bows and then there are bows. The emperor did NOT return the bow. That speaks volumes culturally.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5)
Seems like Obama is doing lots of bowing lately, but not much to the people who put him in office. Maybe he really doesn't serve us after all.
This does not surprise me. Before the imprint of his backside was upon the seat of the highest office in this land, he was already apologizing for the USA and making sure he stipulated that America was NOT a Christian nation. This does not mean that other beliefs are not respected here ... they are and hopefully always will be and I'LL BET a hellofa more than Christianity is respected now and markedly so in the very near future. It means that this nation was founded under God. We have had His protection and blessings till we began slapping Him in the Face in the 60's with trying to erase Him in every detail from sea to shining sea! Yet when things go wrong (9/11) we RUN to Him in "PRAYER".
I am not surprised either by the secular boo-hooing of the notion that Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings and equating Him to the tooth fairy. Those not rooted in the truth will be given over to the great lie, that they may believe it even more strongly. Without FAITH, it's foolishness to the
Perhaps Obama is not bowing down perhaps he is looking down to see if they have his birth certificate.
Pamela,
Since you have taken the liberty of removing all reason and intelligence from your so-called column, please be a dear and separate politics from your religion.
Thanks
"What is ridiculous is the President of the United States bowing before ANY world leader! The ONLY person he is supposed to bow before is God!....I thought he was supposed to be so smart?" NotBoB, who ties your shoes for you in the morning? You are a moron. Go pick and choose your beliefs from your illustrated bible.
Vern, you seem to not realize that as a Catholic, I do tend to have a Catholic world-view. There is no one who doesn't have some underlying belief system (spiritual or non-spiritual) that doesn't have it influence one's worldview.
I will be a dear, but my political viewpoints are definitely influenced by my faith and I plan to continue to write about them as long as I see fit. Thank you for your input however. I'll work on the intelligence and reason part! :)
"Up until this presidency, no American president has EVER bowed to a foreign leader."
This is an incorrect statement. The first president Bush, shortly after he was elected, attended the funeral of the Emperor of Japan. While there, he bowed to the successor. No one spoke of this, no one called into question whether or not he should have bowed. No one railed against him as showing America as weak. Neither Democrats or Republicans fumed that an American President shouldn't bow before anyone but God.
My suggestion is to get your facts straight before writing. That goes for both article authors, Ms Luther, and posters here.
BModR8 is correct, but Bush was not the only one to bow. Eisenhower bowed, Nixon bowed, Bush held hands with a male. Nothing was said. Clinton bowed and Obama bowed and conservatives go nuts. Acts of civility, respect, friendship seem to make conservatives quite uncomfortable. It appears that the whole "discussion" is not about diplomatic protocol; it’s about disrespect for our president by conservatives.
I have to agree with Jeff. If this current president were to solve the problem of world hunger the conservatives would likely accuse him of causing overpopulation as well as a further pushing his "socialist agenda" or some other nefarious scheme.
Pamela, I am a Catholic too though very frustrated with the conservative direction that the Church is taking. They (and you) are echoing everything that the conservative pundits are saying. Did you have a column about George W Bush when he kissed and held hands with a Saudi Prince? (if you google this-you'll find tons of images) A good President will know about the protocals and respect due to the rulers in the countries he is visiting. That is what Obama, as a smart president, is doing. Even our soldiers learn the different cultural do's and don't of the countries that they are in. Presidents on both sides of the political aisle have bowed and respected the cultures of other heads of state. I don't understand people trying to compare respect to other leaders as somehow being disrespectful to God.
This is very true azul. To expand upon what you said, often missionaries are instructed in the culture they are trying to reach (that is to say most modern missionaries as opposed to "missionaries" such as the murderous culture destroying Spanish Catholic in South America the 1500's). Mutual respect for one another must be the starting point of discourse whether political or religious.
I have been on mission trips to several South American countries when I was a teenagager. Prior to going we were instructed on a variety of cultural difference and taught to respect them. The one that stood out the most to me was the greeting by kiss to both sides of the cheek, no matter the gender.
Though it was a quite awkward for me at the time, a sixteen year old heterosexual male, it certainly had no bearing upon my character, sexuality or how I might react when greeting any other given individual.
In a time of war and worldwide uneasiness, I applaud our president for his display of re
Pamela said, "Bowing to leaders in other nations is not standard operating procedure for American presidents."
Actually, it is.
Plamela said, "Up until this presidency, no American president has EVER bowed to a foreign leader."
This is factually incorrect. In fact, this is standard protocol, and not at all uncommon for a President to do.
Now, I'm not really up on all the roman catholic "rules," but isn't there something about not bearing false witness somewhere in the catholic bible? Don't you think that perhaps a formal retraction of your false statements would be the "christian" thing to do?
Bowing is a sign of respect in Japan. It's appropriate to show respect using the form of the other country. Japanese shake hands with Americans don't they? It is a way to conect with another culture to make use of their customs while visiting with them. Probably he had green tea and rice too...is that a sin?
Even though I love the other people who have posted here: You people need to grow up and get real. Try connecting with other cultures for a change.
Jason Gosnell
I apologize...you all are welcome to your opinions. I just see nothing wrong with the bow. I am glad he did it.
he should greet him with a holy kiss.
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