The Secularized Theocracy

Posted on May 18, 2005 in Crosstalk Liberty Morals & Ethics Propaganda

Here’s an argument I keep having here and there: is the Republican Party leadership — including George W. Bush (hardly ever hear of him now that he’s stolen the presidency twice now, come to think of it) truly Christian in its outlook or is it just using the language to drag ignorant, born-agains along towards their hopes of the Rapture and Armagaeddon?

Joe thinks that we’re in for theocracy if we don’t watch out. I personally believe that we’re facing the same old ultra-right kill-the-communists clothed in a new suit of glowing televangelist rhetoric. If Tom DeLay believes that he is being used by God “to stand up for a biblical worldview in everything that I do and everywhere I am. He is training me.” then he should be on lithium. Otherwise, he should be voted out of office because he is the darndest hypocrite who ever walked the face of the planet. Instead of suffering persecution for righteousness sake, he is the persecutor.

There are two ways to confront what is happening in Washington. One is to shake and moan about the coming theo-apocalypse and the other is to attempt to declare that that is not really Christianity. I prefer a course which is a synthesis of the two, meaning that we should uphold the separation of Church and State. When we vote our consciences, the first thing we should ask is “will this keep the government out of my religious life?” The agents of the Republican Party clearly want the government to enter into religious life; they go even farther by insisting on defining what Christianity is — often in complete defiance of the actual words of Christ.

So I don’t believe that this is about theocracy at all: it’s about secularizing religion in the most insidious way, the style of corruption which was used by the Romans, the Byzantines and other empire-builders. The Republicans celebrate sin as virtue, they destroy the independence of the religious believer to think for him or herself — to know God as God must be known (if God is knowable) through personal worship. Those who know the Bible have ever reason to distrust any agent of Government who styles her or himself as an avatar, prophet or god. Anti-christ is the term used for such persons in Revelation. And what distinguishes them from true Christians and from secular bureaucrats is that they seek to undermine freedom of religion for their own materialist enrichment and power.

Christianity, by its nature, demands that the believer not involve himself in government or even the Temple at the expense of minding one’s own soul. When you see a so-called Christian amassing great amounts of wealth and saying “Follow me to redemption”, don’t.