Oh Divine Government, hallowed be thy name! (by anon)

Part of my friend’s religious doctrine is to trust one's government. The reasoning behind this belief:

a) God allows government to rule citizens.
b) God’s plan entails government rule of citizens.
c) Trusting God’s plan is trusting government rule.
d) Trusting God’s plan is also trusting God.
e) If one does not trust the government rule, one does not trust God’s plan.
f) If one does not trust God’s plan, one does not trust God (and as a result, will not be accepted into heaven).
f) Therefore, if one does not trust the government, one does not trust God, and will not go to heaven.

My conclusion: God = the government. If you believe in this particular religion, you have ultimate faith in the powerful people who govern you everyday of your life.

In case you have yet to see the problem with this, I’ll explain. My conclusion essentially gives God-like powers to those in power within the government. If that's not scary enough, I'll go on.

When people in the government are given God-like powers by those who are being governed, there is essentially infinite power given to the government, and there is also infinite trust put into it. Since this trust is part of a religious doctrine, there is little to no room for critical thought regarding our government's actions/policies (regardless of whether or not they seem to be working for us).

For example, some people might believe that it is against God's will to consume marijuana, because God allowed the government to ban marijuana. They believe anything the government tells us to do (or not do) is part of God's will, because God allowed our government to tell us what to do (this is illogical).

Religion thus becomes the vehicle for political power.

And to think I believed religion was not to have anything to do with politics. Now I wonder if politics had something to do with the pushing of this kind of religion and the Bible in general (according to my friend, it is written there somewhere that we must obey the authorities or the government or something - but all I remember is it saying as children, we must obey our mothers and fathers...)

Now, if I was going to try to control people, this would be a good way to do it - just make up a convincing story about a god named God (one that isn't fake like all the others in history) and tell everyone that God wants them to trust in their government. As long as I never let anyone know that I'm the government AND the one who wrote the story, I'll have everyone in the palm of my hand, as long as they stay afraid of that place I made up called "hell", for those who choose not to trust their government.

These days, I think it makes more sense to trust in God DESPITE the evil forces within our government that are holding us back, taking away our freedoms, telling us what is "right" and "wrong", controlling our individual lives, etc. The government is NOT God! Nor is it carrying out God's will (if anything, it’s doing the opposite). One would have to be mentally ill to believe God allows government control, thus we must submit to government control the way we submit to God… especially considering the past actions of our government (and others).

It's scary to think what could happen when so many people religiously believe in the government. Next thing you know, all the lunatics are following government orders to get “chipped”, in order to track individuals’ money in a future cashless society, and no one will be able to buy, sell, or trade without the chip (which sounds familiar...like something I heard about from a book….).