God or Government?

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

The first week of November, I had the privilege of teaching the story of Daniel and the lions' den to a small group of children. At roughly the same time, the centennial of the Russian Soviet revolution took place. Odd connections began to fall into place in my mind.

We’ve got some news, good King Darius…

What was Daniel’s crime that got him sent to the lions’ den? It wasn’t the obvious claim about praying to the Hebrew God. The Persian Empire, in fact, was famous for allowing its conquered peoples to keep their religion and other cultural structures. The law Daniel broke was a 30-day prohibition against “making petition to any god or man” besides King Darius. Jealous governors had designed the law to trap Daniel specifically. So why would King Darius agree to it? He seems like a reasonable, well-meaning man, who likes and respects Daniel. What would motivate him to want all his subjects praying to him?

In our secularized world, it seems strange to think of a king in religious terms; but in ancient times, there was no other way of thinking. Kings and gods were often intertwined or interchangeable, and respect for a king could amount to worship.

VeggieTales, a children’s cartoon that tells Bible stories with the characters acted out by vegetables, has an interesting interpretation of the scene. (The 6:00 minute mark. King Darius is the asparagus and the advisors are the green onions.)

This law asserts Darius' greatness and supremacy. The citizens may not “make petition” to anyone else. They are to look to the king alone to solve all their problems and meet all their needs. Put that way, perhaps it makes a little more sense that “good King Darius” would jump at the chance to tell the people, “You don’t need anyone else! Not when I’ve got your back. Bring all your troubles to me, your good buddy Darius, and I won’t let you down!”

But Daniel already had a lot of experience with kings, starting when he was kidnapped in his youth by Nebuchadnezzar. He knew that any human being or human institution, no matter how powerful and well-meaning, will eventually let you down. And while he could have just paid lip service to the king for thirty days, he knew that his behavior influenced many people because of his privileged position. Refusing to live a lie, Daniel kneels down and presents his petition to the covenant-keeping God of Israel, the Rock and Fortress of the psalmists, whose name is I AM; the only Being in all the universe who depends on nothing else, who can therefore be fully depended on.

But what does all this have to do with Soviet Russia?

One of communism’s fundamental tenets is that the government can and should fulfill the needs of the people. This is why socialism is so adamant against religion, traditional families, and other institutions: “A communist society…cannot allow any institution to be autonomous. They all must be absorbed by the state and serve the state.” They can’t take care of you the way we can, is the implication. Present your petitions to no one but the government, not just for thirty days, but forever.

A lot of people seem to get into socialism for good reasons. They truly believe that as long as the right people are in power — nice, compassionate people like your good buddy Darius — the government really is the best choice to take care of all its citizens. Government can right every wrong, cause everyone to prosper, and protect against all danger, if we give it the chance.

Again, it’s hard to see in our modern, secular environment; but these are religious statements, worshiping the god of government.

But government as god falls apart for two reasons. One, there are always people like the power seeking scheming governors of Daniel’s time. Two, there are always Daniels, people who say “No, thank you” because they don’t trust the government to meet their every need. What is even a well-meaning socialist to do with a Daniel? Anyone daring to be independent of the government is a potential threat to the socialist system. So no matter how much one may respect these Daniels, they have to go to the lions' den — or the Gulag, or the internment camps, or whatever we call it. And not every Daniel gets a miracle. False gods kill and destroy to maintain their illusion.

Of course, this attitude isn’t unique to far-left socialism. Many of us — on the conservative spectrum, even Christians — fall into the trap of praying to Darius. We want the government to legislate away all our problems: to undo the breakdown of the family, to boost the economy with subsidies and such, and to protect us from every shadow of the possibility of a threat. But I’ve got some news, good King Darius; I fear that position is precarious. I explored in a previous post certain ways that patriotism becomes idolatry. This is another; perhaps more subtle and hard to catch. There are things that only the government can do, so yes, we do need it to some extent. But to claim it as the solution to all our needs is to make it a god. And idolizing any mere human, or thing made by humans, is a recipe for disappointment. People, even “good guys” like Darius, will eventually let you down. We are not gods.