- May 28, 2018
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When I saw your title, "Love of State", my first thought was the amazing phenomenon of how leftists trust the State. Through experiences and watching people, I have long since held the opinion that people want an authority over them, and love royalty, for some odd reason. They even support the dual-level justice system, assuming it is right for those in charge to have more rights than the common man, and that common man is here for the service of the royalty, while royalty directs the lives of the commoners. People want to accept the word of those they look up to.I think that for many of us our love of our state has taken root and is equal to and in some cases greater than our love for God.
For many of us love for the state is prior to love for God. Our Christianity actually grows out of a total devotion to the state.
I think that there are many of us who would die more readily for the state than for God. For others, their identity as citizens simply reaches far deeper down into their soul.
As time goes on, this is becoming more and more painfully apparent. Something has crept into the church. There is an implicit and unquestioned belief that the state is a sacred institution. As Christians we are vulnerable to the kind of monarchical thinking that politicians can leverage to manipulate. For many Christians, the state is somewhere between Earth and Heaven, between the soul and God.
I know that my post is quite likely to inflame quite a few, but I also know that it's crucial that it be said in an objective, and non-judgemental way. Hopefully this cuts it, and perhaps even generates healthy and self-critical discussion from all sides.
I'm definitely guilty of placing far too much hope in my own political heroes and heroines. There is absolutely a part of me that believes that there is a form of salvation to be obtained through political activity. For me Human Rights action is sacred. I sometimes worry that it is in competition with my allegiance to the kingdom.
This isn't a left/right thing. At the moment, sure the Christian Right is centre stage, but I wouldn't be surprised if , 50 years from now, we have a coterie of left leaning progressive Christians who are in much the same position. This splitting of the church down the centre is all political machination. It doesn't come from within.
As it turns out, I think, there is a natural reason for this —we are built for God. The State is just a sick substitute.
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