Silver On Christian Political Philosophy

It is on few occasions in my academic life that I have been met with thought-provoking questions like ‘‘what role does God play in modern Politics?’’! I wish I could pause once more and ask again, what role does God play in modern politics? Or re-phrase the question and ask myself, is God relevant in today’s political landscape? After deep reflection, and brain-stimulation, I will proceed to express my humble opinion on this subject where men far wiser and more knowledgeable than me about theology, and political philosophy have spilled unquantifiable volumes of intellectual ink. In attempting to define politics, I came across as many definitions as there are political commentators! Definitions ranging from the plain ones like, the art of control or management of a nation or State or political party to the hilarious- like this one: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies! Perhaps true, but I would love to believe that Marx is wrong on this one. Another attempt I am constrained with, is making a time frame for ‘‘modern politics’’ or ‘‘contemporary politics’’ as distinguished from ‘‘post-modernism’’ (an era after the modern one). For purposes of clarity, this journal entry will center on present day politics in selected case studies. From the onset, I would argue that foundations of most countries were/are shaped by Godly principles, which informed and shaped, and in some regards, continue to shape not only their politics but also other spheres of social and societal evolution. For instance, the founding fathers of the United States of America were in agreement that; ‘‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator [God] with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…’’ (Emphasis mine) By affirming in the above words, they expressed their will and desire for the United States of America politics to be shaped and ingrained in Godliness. In Uganda, the national motto states, ‘‘For God and My Country’’ and the national anthem opens with very colorful verse, “Oh Uganda! May God Uphold Thee”! This was indeed the will of our founding fathers. More rituals like swearing solemn oaths like upon ascendency to political office were also incorporated in the national laws and have continued to be very colorful and most times, pompous political events. The irony is that, amidst all this theoretical Godliness, Uganda continues to lose about 500 billion shillings [about $300million] to corruption , and politicians (most of whom claim to believe in God) have been cited in bribery, vote rigging, violence, hate speech and many other ungodly practices in political campaigns and in discharge of their political duties. Sadly, this reflects the trend in other countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Apartheid-era South Africa, and so forth. Furthermore, lack of political will has been cited as one of the leading affronts to the fight against corruption and electoral fraud in Christian-dominated Uganda. Ironically, these are the same politicians who invoke God’s name when instigating hate campaigns like homophobia! Some political commentators have argued that the enlightment period greatly impacted the trend towards a more secularized political philosophy/thought and believed that God and Christianity were only relevant to Politics and governance only when they were favorable to the State or prolonged the stay of the ruling establishment/status quo. Such an argument would not hold water before Thomas Madison who would later remark on United States of America that; "We have staked the future of American civilization upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." To answer the question presented to me about the role of God in modern politics, I submit that God is becoming increasingly irrelevant in modern-day (largely secular) politics. Like the dirty game it is (according to some observers), the politicians will always look out for God and his message when it only favors them, and furthers their political interests. Just like in Samuel’s time, the people behind the politics of the day have rejected God and favored men. God has let us bomb ourselves with atomic bombs, bribes, lip-service, political extremism, terror, and so on as we exercise our ungodly politics till the final day when He will come to exercise His judgment. Godly political acts like honesty, peace-making, reconciliation, forgiveness, service, and many others seem not to augur well with today’s politics dominated by lies, deceit, war, vengeance, militarism, exploitation, imperialism, subjugation, and the list goes on. One would be pardoned for thinking that Nietzsche was talking about modern politics when he said that; ‘‘God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?’’