Are people today a-theists; oblivious to the need for a higher power in their lives? Do they live like there is no god or do they worship a god of their own making? History has shown that throughout the world and in every era, various people groups have developed systems of religion. They have worshipped nature, created things, demonic spirits, and even their own ancestors. There has always been an inherent need to have a religion; a need to explain, and consequently, to try to control the uncontrollable events that happen to us and to others. However today, there does not appear to be this need. We go to sporting events, buy toys, and working to climb the corporate ladder. Apparently, these are adequate distractions that make the otherwise inherent need for religion unnecessary. But do we really operate without a god? Are we truly religionless? Actually, we do have a god. We may even have many gods. One of the more obvious gods is the god of self. We think about ourselves, pamper ourselves, and basically spend all our time, talent, and treasure attempting to please only ourselves. Even our acts of kindness are done in order to make ourselves feel good about ourselves. However one god that is often overlooked, but is taking more of an active role in our lives is the god of government.
Government is:
Omnipotent -All powerful
The government is able to create. It is able to create jobs and wealth and health for all of it citizens at all times.
Omniscient-All knowing
The government is expected to know when tragedy is about to happen. President Bush should have known that 911 was about to happen, so he could prevent it. He was also supposed to know that the stock market was going to crash in 2008, so he could prevent it.
Omnipresent-Everywhere
The government is expected to be everywhere at all times. The government was supposed to be in New Orleans moments after the hurricane Katrina hit. It should be everywhere there is a need at all times.
Benevolence
The government is expected to be kind to all its citizens at all times. Even those who commit heinous crimes are to be treated kindly. Those on “death row” are put to death in a “humane” way. It also takes several years for them to reach their end which is supposed to be more just.
Eternal
The government is expected to be eternal. People today do not know their history. We think we are unlike other people in other times where governments have risen and fallen. Since we live in the (post) modern era, a change in government would be unthinkable. Even a change in border due to war is unthinkable. For example, it has been over 40 years that Israel has taken over the “occupied territory” of the “west bank”. How many years does a country need to occupy territory before it is accepted as being theirs? The United States took land from the original inhabitants over 200 years ago. It is now accepted as being the United States, but there are still those who say it should never have happened; that somehow the United States should not be geographically be the United States.
As time goes on and more of us come to depend on government for our food and our income, our shelter and all of our needs and wants, government will become more and more of our god. Our expectations will increase and when our god does not satisfy, we change the makeup of the government, so our needs and wants will be met.
See this video to illustrate:
