Knowledge of who is picked by God to lead us is obtained by
communion with God. This is how it worked in medieval Europe when kings were
deemed in authority by divine right as communicated by the Catholic Pope who had
a direct pipeline to the Almighty as the Vicar of Christ on the planet. Today,
in America, there is no central religious authority holding sway as did the
popes of yore. However, there is a network of evangelical churchmen who, after
the political process to select nominees in which they overtly and covertly participate,
give their imprimatur to God’s favored candidate. So indeed, God takes sides,
but His side doesn’t always win, Obama’s re-election being a case in point.
What in the Evangelical’s mind went wrong when God’s side loses? There are several possibilities: (1) God has a greater purpose
that will be revealed in the future when true victory will be obtained. (2) The
process that picked the candidate was flawed in some way. (3) The electorate
was misled by the Devil embodied in a Liberal media, an unscrupulous financial
backer supportive of the Left and/or lies of the Devil’s candidate. And,
finally, (4) God doesn’t really take sides in picking our leaders. I suspect
the latter is the right reason, although I cannot establish that with absolute
certainty. Unless, of course, I reject the idea of a supreme being who has the
power to ordain human happenings or I decide that the Bible is not to be taken
literally and that the historical precedent of the Divine Right of Kings was
merely a convenient justification for oppressing the ignorant masses of
peasants who were the kings unwilling, but powerless, subjects.
My God doesn’t take sides. He is embodied by Jesus who
accepts everyone with love. I am amazed at the hubris of Evangelicals who
believe that they can stake a personal claim on Jesus’ love that excludes
others. I am sure their motives for this belief are many and varied, but
definitely not in sync with the fact and example of Jesus.
