Church and State

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A few entries ago I mentioned the king from the Book of Esther.
He had some advisers who told him to kick out his wife, Vashti, for disobeying him.

And who, pray tell, were THESE geniuses?

“The king said to the wise men, which new the times, for so was the king’s manner towards all that knew the law...”
-- (Esther 1:13)


Some commentators think that these wise men who “knew the times” were actually…

wait for it…

astrologers!

Yup! The king takes his cues from the goobers who write horoscopes for Parade magazine!

That's ridiculous-- that the king of a nation would follow the advice of soothsaying sorcerers or hocus-pocus prognosticators!

Right?

Well, in sanity’s defense, many commentators believe that the wise men who *knew the times* actually “knew the law and justice as properly applied in that society at that time (though some theorize that it might also have included the practice of Astrology). 1 Chronicles 12:32 is similar (“men that had understanding of the times”) and does not seem to have any reference to Astrology.”

-- (David E. Pratte, gospelway.com, Feb. 21, 2006)

But still—
The bible is FULL of leaders (especially kings) following the advice of prophets. And why not? Many times it was the prophets who hand-picked the kings anyway, as God told them to. Let’s look at the very first king of Israel:
“Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man… and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel… And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of!”
-- (I Samuel 9:15-16)

The books Kings I and II and Chronicles I and II are peppered with instances of prophets advising kings in political and military situations.

But before all that-- in the words of Ray Romano— “Deborah!”

The story of the prophetess, Deborah, in 4 short excerpts:

“And Deborah, a prophetess,…the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.”

“And she sent and called Barak… and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men…”

“And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.”

“And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand…So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.”

-- (Judges 4:1, 6, 8, 14)

Unbelievable! The leader of the Israelite army did whatever Deborah told him!

Yup. Barak listened to a woman!

Now THAT is far-fetched…

Ha! Politics…

Maddening as the grammar may be, it kinda makes sense! If the people believe God is the (to use a Bush-ism) “the decider” to choose whomever God wants as the leader, then naturally a PROPHET should be the right-hand man of said leader!
However, in a democracy….

Well, is it any crazier than having a clergyman serve as a counsel to the President?
What about an evangelical minister speaking during his inauguration?
And over-enunciating the names "Malia" and "Sasha"

Don’t get me wrong, I like Pastor Rick Warren, but the fact that the President even HAS a religious figure give an “inaugural invocation” every 4 years is kind of messed up.
I’m not the first to say so, but what the hell happened to “Separation between Church and State?”

Helloooo?

Our money? “In God we trust?”

Our Pledge of Allegiance—“One nation, under pants,” or whatever…

I know you've probably heard all this before, but it's worth considering again.

Here are some honest opinions from John Oliver, Chief British correspondent to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", identifying political differences between England and America:

"When I first got here [U.S.A.], Tony Blair was in power in Britain, who's a devout Catholic. But he would never talk about that, and he would be careful never to be photographed going into a church or be recorded talking about his faith -- people would inherently find that suspicious.
Now Britain is definitely a more secular place than here...
(Here comes the crux of it all)
The idea that you HAVE to have a public faith in God or you are not fit for office is VERY difficult to get used to as someone from Europe."

(from interview on "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," broadcast 1/5/2010)

Every single speech the president (or even presidential nominee) makes MUST end with the words, “God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”

I realize “God” is a vague term, but I don’t like the idea of our President asking God to bless our country.
“Mr. President, shouldn’t you balance the budget and re-assign our military troops.”
“Why bother? GOD is gonna BLESS America, remember? We’ll be fine, now bring me some Sun Chips!”

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