Does Charisma affect politics? How do Christians play a part in this?
In this article I will be speaking on the thought if charisma can allow for someone to gain votes for their campaign. If it can cause someone to vote for them then what are the factors in this Charisma. I will also be talking about very known politicians such and John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump who I think has made this something that they have practiced and mastered to help them gain the votes of the people. It will also be covering when charisma became a lot more impactful during elections. Lastly I will talk about how a Christian should function in Politics.
The first election that had any television time or airtime was on September 26, 1960 and this was between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon. It is said in the New York Times article that both men were more worried about their appearance and speech more than the actual topics being discussed. It is also talked about how they were concerned on scoring “debate points” with their image and voice projection. This was viewed as something that they thought could swing more votes in their way. Ultimately elevating their campaign over the other.
I would say that this was the start of Charisma and the ability of speakers to use this in a whole new light, because all could flip on a television and be able to see exactly what was going on. This of course the first time it was being used in the sense of a election for the Presidency. Before this it was over the radio, which allowed you to listen, but it is hard to inspire a lot of people without them being able to see your emotion and passion on what the speaker is talking about.
The television gave the audience a whole new experience for the voters because not everyone could go and see the politicians speak before but now everyone could see it. So this caused the whole game to change no longer did you need to be knowledgeable about the topics, but they had to be very presentable and inspiring so that people can trust them and believe in them.
When thinking about history I think some of the men that clearly possessed these qualities would be John F. Kennedy, Barrack Obama, and George Bush. All of these men had a vast amount supporters and people who trusted them and felt almost like they was close to these men but truly never even met these people person to person. When Kennedy was assassinated people mourned and wept all across the country people who had never met him before wept because he had impacted these people so deeply. My argument is that his charisma had a big impact on why these people were so inspired by this man.
The actual definition of charisma is “a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure” (Merriam- Webster Dictionary) I think this definition describes the word very clearly and in a way that allows for us to understand it better.
In the book Christian Perspectives on Sociology by Stephen A Grunlan he has a whole chapter that speaks on politics and how it affects all and also how that Christians should handle politics, also how they should be in the political spectrum. In this book one of the three points that he brings up about political leaders is charisma and how much of an impact this has on the public when this tool is used in the right way. (Page 206) In this book he uses the examples of John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill two men who ended up doing great things but also was able to use their charisma to be able to get into these places of power. They also was able to be very heavily supported by their people.
How does charisma affect us as voters? It not only influences us but it can also sway us from one idea to another just because of someone’s use of this tool. How can we know it they are using the tool or if they are truly trying to do better in the world? These are things we have to be aware of when listening to a speaker.
As voters we can be persuaded easily usually because we all have things that we stand firm on and these are the platforms that establishes our basis in voting. So if someone who speaks very well about things that you agree with then you will subconsciously start to lean towards that person. These big topic items and seen as big topic ideas that people make their platforms on.
Donald Trump his platform for the average American was that he was not going to be bought out and was not afraid to say what he was thinking. Is this Charisma? No but him being able to get on television and be able to inspire a whole nation to become President of the United States is very much charisma. Even though he does not think about what usually comes out of his mouth he does hit on a lot of things that the average American think about everyday and says a lot of things some people will never say.
Another example of this is that Trump has recently came out and said that his campaign has already accomplished so much and the average American would be happy and think wow he is doing so well already. After reading some articles the things he is saying are not all factual, which is found on cbsnews.com. This article talks about how Trump has truly not done a lot yet, which is normal for Presidents because we all know anything done in the government never happens very quickly.
Why do I bring this point up? I do this because it allows for us to see charisma in a simple form, we hear that our President saying he is doing well and we just take him for his word and he shows all signs of confidence and we as the people believe what he is saying. He also uses his platform and is using the tool well so the citizens of America feel safe and like the President and the choice we made, as a nation was a good one.
I would take this one step farther and say that as humans we want to be told exactly what we want to hear so if someone does this then we as humans begin to like who ever is telling you exactly what you want. So if you can match charisma with the things people want to hear then usually you can excel very well in politics. Now a day someone can look at our social media, our purchases online, or even use ads to allow people to know almost everything about our lives and exactly what we do and do not like. If the politician knows these things then they can figure out very easily how to inspire us.
To boil this point down even further we can all look in our lives and see people that are confident and can inspire people like maybe your boss walks out and gives a speech. Some people will be inspired and work harder for this person because they feel a connection to this person because they have inspired them. This is what all big leaders in a corporation try to do, these men or women are trying to inspire and push people so that they can be better and ultimately makes them look better as well. This is the same exact thing that is occurring in politics but just on a bigger scale they are trying to affect a nation, not just the corporation that they are working for.
My conclusion is that charisma has a lot to do with who wins the election of most political platforms. I think it is a fair argument to say that John F Kennedy being televised allowed for him to have a clear advantage in the presidential race because he had a great amount of charisma and had the great ability to use charisma in his favor. I think it is also fair to say that inspired people are people that are going to stand firm behind the leader who inspired them. The last thought is that humans in general want something to stand behind and stand for, and when we become inspired this is thing that we can stand for.
In the Bible it tells us no matter what leader we have we need to be praying for them if we agree with everything they do or not. A verse that I would like to reference in this thought is 2 Timothy 2: -1–4 and Romans 13:1–7. Both of these verses speak on how we as Christians should honor the authority of the leaders of us and also how we are supposed to pray for these people. Yes Charisma is something that wins over the votes of people, and people will always lead, but we as Christians know that God is ultimately in control and his will, will be done no matter the efforts of no man.
References
“Charisma.” Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
Network, The Learning. “Sept. 26, 1960 | First Televised Presidential Debate.” The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
Roberts, Bryan. “7 Things Christians Need to Remember About Politics.” RELEVANT Magazine. N.p., 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
Runlan, Stephen A. Christian Perspectives on Sociology. Eugene Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001. Print.
Shabad, Rebecca. “What has Trump done so far since being elected president?” CBS News. CBS Interactive, 28 Feb. 2017. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
