Word: faithe
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...last decade or so, Americans’ faith in the electoral exercises had eroded and their attendance at the polls dwindled, especially among the younger generations uninspired by the civil superstitions of their fathers. Political apathy had so afflicted the nation that, leading up to the 2004 election, many commentators speculated, in apocalyptic tones, that depressed voter-turnout and a dying faith in democracy would become permanent features of our commonwealth...
...week after election day this year, the non-believers have been proven wrong. Barack Obama, the prophetic voice of hope crying in the partisan political wilderness, has reinvigorated Americans’ interest and engagement in the electoral process and especially inspired the once-lukewarm faith of the youth. And, like many converts, these youth—especially at Harvard—have expressed their new-found creed with an excess of zeal...
...While the full force of hope and change operated on the psychological and emotional levels, indeed, visible proofs of faith have also abounded. The ubiquitous Obama campaign buttons—attached to fleeces, tattered satchels, and even professors’ tweed jackets—and t-shirts with the Senator’s stylized silhouette served as frequent external reminders of the campus’s conversion. But these, it turns out, were rather modest autos...
...metaphors between Obama’s campaign and a messianic cult presents a distinct cause of concern. His youthful adherents have set their expectations too high for not only his presidency but also the salvific effects of any politician or political system. Without a religion of their own, their faith is in Obama and the political process—with potentially disastrous effects for the size, scope, and sanctity of our government...
...obvious security at last week's event. But that experience allowed him to make a strong indirect point in favor of the new Institute. Conservative clerics and talk show hosts have complained bitterly at the way that secular universities treat religion - sometimes justifiably. When scholars insist on seeing faith as a brute exercise in authoritarianism they are being almost as reductive as religious fundamentalists. But at its best, secular religious study continues to offer a freedom that institutions entrenched firmly in one or another faith tradition can simply not afford...