Democracy or Theocracy?
"The surest antidote to tyranny is a free people who believe it owes its allegiance to a Higher Power, not the government. The consent of the governed rests upon faith in a sovereign God. Faith as a political force is the very essence of Democracy." - Ralph Reed, Republican political consultant and the former Exec. Dir. of the Christian Coalition.
Think about that quote for a moment.
To start: "[t]he surest antidote to tyranny is a free people who believe it owes its allegiance to a Higher Power, not the government." This logic is based upon an assumption that a "free people" who do not owe their allegiance to religious dogma and institutions are bound to worship at the altar of government. That's typical Black or White, God or Satan, logic. However, our nation is built upon a notion that free people in a democratic system create and manage a government of the people, by the people and for the people. What Reed is suggesting is that without religious belief, the people must affix their allegiances elsewhere and that could only be to the evils of the government. In other words, free people are sheep and their faith (allegiance) to religious doctrines empowers them to resist tyranny.
Next: "The consent of the governed rests upon faith in a sovereign God." So democracy is dependent upon the people's faith in God as all powerful and with allegiance only to him (or the dogma outlined by his Church)? Without faith in God, the governed (free people) are unable to exercise their democratic rights to create and control their government (i.e. "consent of the governed"). That is nonsense. The "consent of the governed" rests upon the actions of free people in winning, maintaining, and protecting their democratic rights to control their own government.
Finally: "Faith as a political force is the very essence of Democracy." That could be said of any political system, whether democratic, theocratic, monacratic, dictocratic, or totalitarian. "Faith" is much broader than religion. Free people - all people in any cultural or national group - must have faith in the organization, structures, and leadership. In our free and democratic society, for it to work the people must have faith in the value of freedom and the ability of free people to maintain democratic institutions and ideals to prevent tyranny.
Think about that quote for a moment.
To start: "[t]he surest antidote to tyranny is a free people who believe it owes its allegiance to a Higher Power, not the government." This logic is based upon an assumption that a "free people" who do not owe their allegiance to religious dogma and institutions are bound to worship at the altar of government. That's typical Black or White, God or Satan, logic. However, our nation is built upon a notion that free people in a democratic system create and manage a government of the people, by the people and for the people. What Reed is suggesting is that without religious belief, the people must affix their allegiances elsewhere and that could only be to the evils of the government. In other words, free people are sheep and their faith (allegiance) to religious doctrines empowers them to resist tyranny.
Next: "The consent of the governed rests upon faith in a sovereign God." So democracy is dependent upon the people's faith in God as all powerful and with allegiance only to him (or the dogma outlined by his Church)? Without faith in God, the governed (free people) are unable to exercise their democratic rights to create and control their government (i.e. "consent of the governed"). That is nonsense. The "consent of the governed" rests upon the actions of free people in winning, maintaining, and protecting their democratic rights to control their own government.
Finally: "Faith as a political force is the very essence of Democracy." That could be said of any political system, whether democratic, theocratic, monacratic, dictocratic, or totalitarian. "Faith" is much broader than religion. Free people - all people in any cultural or national group - must have faith in the organization, structures, and leadership. In our free and democratic society, for it to work the people must have faith in the value of freedom and the ability of free people to maintain democratic institutions and ideals to prevent tyranny.
posted by Maximus at 2:19 PM
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