Weird religious right phrases

On the way home today, listening to NPR’s coverage of Mitt Romney I was struck by a very weird turn of words.  One of the commentators they interviewed mentioned that McCain’s status was "the greatest resurrection sinze Lazarus"  Lets review the timeline of relevant events, as I recall them from my time at St. James:

  1. 1ish AD – Jesus is Born
  2. 18ish AD – Jesus goes to the fortress of solitude to learn from his father. I may be a bit hazy on this event and getting my savior mythologies a bit muddled.
  3. 30ish AD – Jesus preaches in HOly Land, along the way bringing back Lazarus from the dead.
  4. 33ish AD – Jesus is crucified and then resurected.
  5. 2008 AD – McCain resurrects political career and becomes Republican front-runner

Now, you may be thinking along the same lines as I am.  First, saying "the greates resurrection since Lazarus" sounds like an attempt to not utter something blasphemous by comparing McCain to Jesus.  But if you think pedantically, that pretty much means that McCain’s return from political death is greater than Jesus’ resurrection.