by Chris Alexion, Copyright February 06, 2008, all rights reserved. 315 views
With election year underway, we're sure to see our culture worshipping at the shrine of our political gods. The political process, we've been told, is our savior, and everyone seems to have his favorite apostle. Some hail change-embracing Democrats; some idolize law-and-order Republicans; others insist that only unknown third-party candidates can save us.
But, as Doug Wilson points out, all these saviors are false, despite the religious zeal with which they're embraced. This critique applies equally to socialistic leftists (some of whom profess Christ) and libertarian conservatives (some of whom profess Christ). Statism is an idol no matter which side of the aisle it sits on.
Wilson also points out how the modern political system, like a priesthood, uses threatenings and impending crises to build up its own messianic image:
-----The looming "crises" vary, and the contending saviors vary accordingly. This is not to deny the reality of genuine threats in the world, for they are out there, and we do need competent leadership to deal with them. But in modern political campaigns, the momentum that carries them forward is an emotional investment in the candidate as a person (which by itself is fine and healthy), but when this is combined with the crisis/savior approach it leads directly to a weird civic idolatry. People get attached to their candidate with a religious fervor (and even Christians do this), and when it comes out that you are not voting for that guy, they respond as if you had just heaved a dead cat into the Holy of Holies.
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