A television interview with a Jewish Rabbi last night highlighted a growing fear among many in the United States of the possibility that the US government may be moving ‘dangerously’ towards theocratic rule – where religious fervor (of the Christian bent) becomes the dominant form of public policy. This ‘fear’ harkens back to the pre-US era where migrants fled religious persecution from colonial Europe to make a home of freedom from government-imposed religion in the United States.The new concern stems primarily from the rise of red-state dominance in recent US politics particularly during the administration of George W. Bush and the resulting influence of Christian oriented groups such as James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The interesting note here is that groups opposed to religious influence in society are having difficulty defeating such influence at the ballot box. Rank and file Americans (those in inconsequential fly-over country) don’t seem to share their concern about the vestiges of a theocratic rise in political governance. To be certain, this phenomenon is simply the backlash against the alternatives to Godly ideals - that being the moral wasteland of pop culture and secular humanistic policies so embraced by the opponents of religious influence. Over the last 50 years, the pendulum has swung so far away from basic moral standards, that regular folks have had enough.
The good news for this Jewish Rabbi, Liberal Christian leaders and the anti-religious masses is that the fear of theocratic rule is largely exaggerated. Fear not…when it comes to truly embracing what a true theocracy represents, Americans will find it hard to live without their “Desperate Housewives” every Sunday night. “WWE Raw” and their demonically themed commercials no longer available for our children to be cultured by? No way! Theocracy? "You know what you can do with your theocracy" will be the battle cry from flyover country and beyond.
There can be no theocracy with human beings running our governments. God says about man in Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Man is too bound by the lusts for his own power and his own adulation to cede to theocratic rule. Theocratic rule by definition means the subservience of all things human to the authority of all things divine. God rules. His way rules. Not our way of what I would call “theocracy-lite”. Not the ways of the mega churches and their Lincoln Navigators in the parking lots or people hawking miracle water on Christian television. The theocracy that is feared is actually a theocracy-lite that is “the rage” among today’s Christian community. Trust me, that is nothing to be feared.
There is however a real Theocracy coming. I suspect however those in fear of it will not be around to be subject to it. The Book of Isaiah promises: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be calledWonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. (Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV). This will be the true Theocracy.