The President’s Theodicy: An American Theo-Drama The Problem of Evil

Abstract

It has often been noted that that the form of contemporary political life is deeply rooted in the tradition of political theology, and that the inheritance of a theologico–political grammar is responsible for the theo-dramatic structure of contemporary politics. Using Barack Obama’s 2009 Nobel Prize lecture as my example, I argue that Obama relies upon a theologico-political grammar to construct a theodicy for American empire.

“There never was a golden age. There is no point in looking back to one. The first man was immediately the first sinner.” --Karl Barth

“War in one form or another appeared with the first man.” --Barack Obama