Godly Politics?

Dear Victorious,

What do you suppose God thinks of politics in America? I mean, is there a way for it to be godly? Or are we just fooling ourselves to think that we could have a Christian government?

Dean K. - Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Dear Dean,

If you look back at the Old Testament and how governments came about, God always intended to be our King. He didn't want any other kings to be appointed or presidents to be elected. It's the most pure form of what is known as a theocracy. That's a form of government where God (or a god) is recognized as the supreme civil ruler.

It's heart-warming to look democracy and relate it Christian values and virtues. But it really does fall short in that it doesn't recognize the authority of God in everything. If it did, for example, all of our written law (i.e., congressional bills) would be based on Biblical principles. All of our government decisions would be made with prayer and fasting.

The purest form of theocracy that we see today is found in the Islamic states, where civil law defers to the religious law. In places like England, the Queen is head of both church and state. There is no separation, technically speaking. But of course you could hardly call England a theocracy. It functions much like our form of democracy.

So, to answer your question, I suspect that God takes a dim view of American politics. There is certainly a lot of evil present in the political scene. And it's worth noting that this is not the form of government God had in mind when He rescued the Israelites and made them His people.