Saturday 21 September 2013

The Annals of Soft-Despotism

The Might of the Gentiles

President Reagan once quipped that the most terrifying words in the English language were, "I am from the government, and I'm here to help."  We are aware that for many such a statement  borders on blasphemy.  How dare anyone have such a cynical attitude toward the hand that feeds us.

Modern governments in the West have arrogated to themselves (with the ardent support and acclamation of the people) the vain hubris of being responsible and empowered to parent and provide for all citizens.  Welcome to life under the soft-despotic state.  Freedom and responsibility is at first attenuated, then killed off, by kindness.  Men--free men--depart, not with a bang, but a whimper.  Underneath lies a besetting sin: idolatry.  Today it is almost universal that "free" citizens worship the government in one way or another.  Become subjected to almost any trouble, any calamity and the reflexive, natural response now is to intone the litany of the secular idolater: "the government has to/should/ought/needs to do something".  It is the secular version of fervent prayer.  It is the established religion of our day.



The First Commandment teaches us that God does not tolerate the presence or invocation of idols anywhere near Him: "thou shalt have no other gods in My presence".  The most frequently found rendering of this commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," which is perfectly acceptable, provided one remembers that the preposition has reference to God's throne before which we come to bow, to worship God alone.  Thus, the commandment forbids worshippers coming into His presence, before His face, clinging to or clutching any idols, whether vainly imagined in the heart, or actually squirreled away in the pocket.

The translation "before" is far less helpful when folk misinterpret it to refer to a relative ranking of the gods.  In this perspective, the commandment is glossed to mean relative loyalty: "thou shalt make sure that whatever idolatries and loyalties you might have, they must not be greater than your loyalty to God."  When it comes to the place of the government in the thinking of many Christians--and the honour and devotion to be given to it--this is how they think of the First Commandment.  Love God, and love the state as well.

When Christians bow down before the God of our fathers, it is grossly offensive and provocative to come also clutching to the state as our benign provider, our providential superintendent, our generous gift-giver, our saviour from harm and hardship, and the giver of our daily bread.  We fear that many do.  After all, it is what is taught and proclaimed almost universally these days.  It is so pervasive that it has become one of the fundamental assumptions about living, and moving, and have our being. 

This is a dangerous and sinister business.  After all, God is a jealous God.  He will not share His glory with another.  When we cling to idols, He will lift His hand to shatter them.  When a people cling to the government as their god, it does not bode well for the future of the nation.  In the end, we will be made like the ancient widows:
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.

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