the American "divine right" of kings...

"The Divine Right of Kings is a political and religious doctrine of political absolutism."

This is the opening sentence on Wikipedia in its entry on the concept of the Divine Right of Kings. It was used by European monarchs to justify their rule because they believed that it was given to them by God. It was absolute. They could do no wrong. Their every word was ordained and instilled by the breath of the Almighty.

It was also one of the longest struggles for freedom that the Continent fought. In the most extreme, regicide was used in the battle. Most noted are the executions of Charles I of England in 1649 and Louis XVI of France in 1793. To some of the time, it was worse than patricide - killing your father. God deigned who was to be the ruler. Who wanted to go against God?

Divine Right was also one of the leading treidations of Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers of the United States. They feared the possibility of a monarch based on Divine Right and a theocracy so much that they wrote a guarantee into the Constitution as the First Amendment - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

And here we are, back to the same fight. Almost every one of the GOP presidential candidates are using the religious argument as the right basis for our government.

Huckabee and Romney are making it part of the core for their campaigns. Giuliani is foaming at the mouth citing Catholic doctrine left and right. Even the House of Representatives weighed in yesterday with H. Res. 847: Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;

(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;

(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;

(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;

(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and

(6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.

No big deal. The House has previously passed resolutions along these lines concerning other religions and their importance.

Well, maybe, there is a big deal. Given the predilection of the GOP candidates to spout their belief as tantamount to their positions, the infusion of Christianity into politics for the last several years, the intimation that Christians are being persecuted in the U.S., and the insinuation that secularism is the root of all the evil happening in this country recently, maybe, just maybe, we are many steps closer to the theocracy that Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Romney do not only elude to but espouse - the new American Divine Right of presidency and government.

Flying Spaghetti Monster help us...



Richard Cohen has an interesting OpEd in today's NYT on Europe's fears of this phenomenon. Check it out here - Secular Europe’s Merits.