Government as God

Once upon a time, our homo sapiens ancestors lived as family units without a larger organization.  They fed themselves by hunting and by gathering edible parts of plants.  Population was sparce, and there was plenty to go around.  There was not much contact with other groups, and no reason at all for fighting.  (Sounds like a description of the Garden of Eden ? )

Disputes in the family were decided by an older male or female if necessary.  There are still some few of these “paleolithic” cultures in this world, but they are well on their way to extinction.

As population density increased, families found that they could domesticate animals for meat and cultivate plants to produce more food per acre.  Soon we must be ready to fight because we can’t have our neighbors hunting and gathering in our pastures and fields.  Several family groups would begin to select Judges to decide disputes and Kings to lead them in battle as needed.  (I Samuel, chapter 8).  To give authority to Judges and Kings, God was asked to select, bless, and authorize selected candidates. 

From the beginning of the Neolithic era up until today, we recognize the “sovereignty” of our governors, their God-given right to rule us. It is right because God says so.  Even in “atheistic” societies, the government has a right to rule, glossing over the lack of any authority to confer that right. 

The King, or whatever other title is held by the top dog, has thus a god-like authority over the rest of us.  I have heard that in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Rome some of the rulers actually declared themselves to be gods. 

In the Middle Ages, people were divided into ranks of Royalty, Nobility, and the rest, with the idea that God had chosen the class into which you were born, and thus your proper authority in society. 

In the U. S. of A., we declared that “…we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.…”, which gave God’s authorization only to governing officials who are freely and honestly elected by the people. 

So, those who rule us have that divine right from God, and have authority to rule us as gods.  I cannot murder my neighbor, but the King can hang me if he wishes. 

Monarchs, Kings, Presidents, Potentates, Rulers, Governors, Dictators, Rois, Raajaon, Re, Reges, Konger, Reyes, Emperors, Kejsare, or whatever be the title in your human culture, have god-like authorities over us. 

The most powerful earthly force in our lives is our government.  Those who govern us often come to believe that they function as gods. 

In the U. S. of A. the founders, who had come to resent being ruled by fiat by a far-away German king, had noticed that settlers on the frontier could prosper with minimal help from the government.  Thus they developed a constitution that allowed the central government very few powers.  The country thrived and grew by letting / making the people run their own lives. 

As countries urbanize, and government bureaucracies grow, it gets harder for people to take time away from their productive labors to cope with the expanding complications of their lives.  The bureaucrats themselves take on god-like authority. 

Politicians promise to help, in order to get elected.  Often, they generate new problems whose solutions they can promise.  They ask the people to authorize new powers for them, and new bureaucracies to handle those new powers. 

In the U. S. of A.  politicians identified as “Conservatives” seek to hold to the “old” ideas that led to prosperity and freedom.  They tend not to try to promise things they cannot deliver. [Yes, the “old” ideas date back a few centuries, and the “new” ideas date back a few millennia. ] 

Consider the recent case of a “conservative” president who, when confronted with a new plague nicknamed “CoViD”,  promised to “flatten the curve” and fast-track the development of vaccines.  He succeeded in both of these two things.  Not being omnipotent, he did not promise to stop the plague completely, and he did not do so. 

Then a “liberal” president came to power.  He promised to stop the plague.  The plague is simply running its course, in spite of the draconian measures taken by the omnipotent new president. 

If we examine political history, we note that politicians on the “liberal” side of the political spectrum promise much in order to get into power, and always seek more power with which to help the people with their problems.  They work hard to have the ability to help us, even with problems we do not want help with, and with problems they will dismally fail to solve. 

Politicians, as their power moves slightly toward omnipotence, promise to do the impossible. 

President Biden promised to end the “CoVid” plague.  Today the coronavirus is progressing normally, despite the draconian measures he has taken. 

President Biden promised to end Global Warming, and indeed, only three weeks after his inauguration, he gave us the worst freeze in most of our lifetimes, but we are still having very hot summers.  The main claim of the attack on Global Warming is that the burning of fuels containing carbon must be stopped, and Biden seems to believe he can accomplish this by reducing use of carbonaceous fuels in the U. S. of A., even though the rest of the World is massively increasing its consumption of these same fuels. 

I am no psychologist.  I cannot understand the political leaders nor their supporters.  Do they really want to help the “people”, or do they just want power and wealth ?  Do they really think they can do the undoable things they promise before an election, or are they only convinced that the voters are “useful idiots”, except for a few “deplorables” who are not complete fools ?  Are they correct in their supposition that most voters can be bought by handing out “stimulus” money and cancelling debts to buy votes while making us poorer through destruction of our economy ? 

It seems as if these little gods with feet of clay are jealous of the real God, who is not only truly free of all evil, but also omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  Socialist and Fascist dictators express their feelings by attacking God and His church throughout history. 

The Soviet Socialists were careful to allow only atheists to hold public office.  The Chinese Communist government also follows this path. 

Almost a century ago, the Mexican government outlawed religious services.  Teaching of religion was prohibited in both public and private schools.  Priests were forbidden to wear clerical garb in public, and the celebration of Mass was punished severely.  It was rumored that some priests were canonized, with real cannons.  Eventually, the policy was changed, and Mexico is still a Catholic nation today, although the government is still somewhat hostile to Christianity. 

This year, the Communist government of Nicaragua has mounted an offensive against the Catholic church. 

In the U. S. of A. President Biden and his regime have used the CoViD pandemic as a pretext to oppress churches, ignoring the rights specified in the first amendment to the Constitution. 

Governments and governors attempt to exercise the powers of God, often working hard to usurp the powers of the real God.  This seems to be the eternal custom of the little gods with their feet of clay, and, after thousands of years, this custom shows no sign of changing.