I tend to agree but I have to point out that I do not believe that God takes sides during election season just as He does not take side during sports competitions. In fact, I would argue that God is detached from the political scene much more than we would like to believe.
For instance, in the ongoing FIFA World Cup soccer competition in South Africa, everyone can see teams pray to God (let us just say it is to the One, True God). If everyone prays to the same God that their team should be blessed and come out victorious, which side is God going to pick? Not only that, it takes away from the competition if God is going to decide who is going to come out ahead, right? Similarly, in elections, God has left that for the people to decide and would hesitate to venture into the domain of free will and instruct people on who to vote for.
Simply put, if God does not take sides in an election or a football match; does God worry if nations have monarchies and aristocracies or does He root (secretly) for democracies to take hold? If you believe God has the power to overthrow governments in one fell swoop (and I do), why didn’t He overthrow King Herod who issued an edict that all first-born be slaughtered when Jesus Christ was born? Why did God have to allow His Son to go through the trouble of fleeing to Egypt?
Now this does not mean that there are no differences between a monarchy and a democracy when obviously there is. People have a voice in the latter and it simply is a better form of government. But it is what we all make of it. Maybe that is why Jesus Christ said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.”
MATT PHILIPS
Mangilao, Guam
