Many of you are old enough to remember John Lennon being shredded for lamenting "The Beatles had become more popular than Jesus Christ", right? So WHATTHEHELLL?
from The Chicago Sun Times h/t Jawa Report
Obama beats out Jesus as America's hero
19, 2009
SUN-TIMES STAFF
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Americans named President Obama as their No. 1 hero, followed by Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King, in a new Harris poll.
Others in the top 10, in descending order, were Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Chesley Sullenberger and Mother Teresa.
People were asked whom they admired enough to call their heroes. Those surveyed were not shown a list of people to choose from. The Harris Poll was conducted online among a sample of 2,634 U.S. adults by Harris Interactive.
This question was first asked in a Harris Poll in 2001. In that survey Jesus Christ was the hero mentioned most often, followed by Martin Luther King, Colin Powell, John F. Kennedy and Mother Teresa.
The biggest changes upwards on this list into the top 10 since 2001, apart from Barack Obama, were:
— George W. Bush was rated only 19th in July 2001, when he had been president for six months, and is now number 5 on the list.Heroes who were in the top 10 in 2001 who have fallen sharply this year include:
— John McCain, who was not in the top 20 in 2001, is now number 7.
— Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who landed his jet safely in the Hudson River, is ranked number 9.
— Colin Powell, who was number 3 and is now number 16.
— John Wayne, who was number 8 and has dropped out of the top 20.
— Michael Jordan, who was number 9 and is no longer in the top 20.
— Mother Teresa, who was number 5 and is now number 10.
3 comments:
People are pretty fickle about their heroes aren't they?
Seriously though, MLK and Lincoln deserve to be there. George Bush, uh, I'm not so sure about that.
Reagan, Roosevelt, Corrie Ten Boon, Boenhoeffer, Jonas Salk. These people are heroes.
When I was a kid, my heroes were George Patton and Wilt Chamberlain.
Einstein is a hero. Steve Jobs is a hero. Kurt Warner seems to be an exceptional man, maybe not quite a hero. Craig Venter seems like he ought to be called a hero, but perhaps he's just a guy who has figured out how to exploit biotech for enormous profit.
Robert Spencer is a hero. Geert Wilders, Hirsi Ali, and Pim Fortuyn are heroes.
Vaclav Havel is a hero. Winston Churchill is a hero.
Bob Geldof is a personal hero of mine, because he picked up and did something when he felt called to do it, and then sat down and shut up when he felt it was time. He has pretty much kept his mouth shut since.
Some people like Nelson Mandela have not been so wise. They take their mantle as a hero to speak out on every issue in the world, and they wear out their welcome.
Most heroes are not known to the public and never will be.
And then there are heroes of the arts; Mahler, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Arvo Part, Rodin (the sculptor) Claude Monet, Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky,
And, after having named so many, I start to wonder what constitutes a hero, and I have no idea.
:)
Mine include all the Founders, warts and all. Churchill and Lincoln.
I don't think anyone knows how to define a true hero. you only know it when you see it. And conversely know it when it's not.
Call me when he walks on water.
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