scary thought of the day
By now, even our robots on Mars are watching the election season edge closer and closer to its culmination. Spirit is backing McCain and Opportunity is cheering for Obama so both are no longer speaking and demand that each stay on his or her own side of the planet. Phoenix thinks that both are being unreasonable.
Here on planet Earth, I’ve been watching the election process and thinking about the role of religion in voting. Now don’t get me wrong, if you’re deeply committed to your religion and feel that you need to vote a certain way to uphold it, that’s who you are. But I have to raise a red flag if you plan to vote solely on the basis of who you believe your supreme deity pointed out to be the right choice for you. Or if your pastor told you that Dwight Politician has been anointed by God, that Dwight knows it and you, as a decent, God fearing person should be voting for him.
If the government begins to think that it has divine powers or the authority of God to do what it will, why would it have us vote for who should be a part of it or decide what services we want it to provide? The hallmark of theocracy is that God is responsible for picking the government because his judgment is above that of mortals. This means we can’t question the government or resist its orders no matter how wrong or unjust. We would be questioning God’s word.
If the president says that every third petty criminal is to be put to death as an example or that poor people should be slaves to the wealthy since they obviously can’t manage on their own, how could we do what we usually do and say “whoa, wait a sec here!” if the president has been appointed by God? How dare we object to the whims of God’s instrument on Earth? And what’s with this election business? God will show us who should lead us. Just think of the benefits. No more vicious attack ads playing over and over again and no long waits in line at polls every two years. And no clothespin voting or voter’s remorse after agonizing over who deserves your precious voice!
Picking a government by personal moral principles is one thing. Picking a government based on who you believe God has anointed is something wholly other. Who says it won’t go to the lawmaker’s head and turn him or her into a raving megalomaniac? Activist groups, churches and preachers trying to attach themselves to politicians so they can declare them anointed are opening a door they may have a lot of trouble closing.
