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Imperial Religion
16 November 2004How does religion fare in the age of empire? Historian William Marina (writing, it should be noted, for The Independent Institute: a self-described "non-partisan" policy organization that's described by its critics as a Microsoft-funded right-wing think tank), reminds Blue-Staters flustered by the "blind faith" of Bush's fundamentalist followers that empires are always "ages of religious ignorance." "What is less understood is that all of the great empires in history have been characterized by a decline of reason and an increase in super-naturalist faith, combined with a belief in the empire with the emperor holding God’s 'mandate' on earth. There are only three ultimate sources upon which derivative values such as 'equality' can be based: supernatural law, natural law and statist, positive law. Empires tend to combine all of the three so that the emperor’s legitimacy flows from God, nature, and his position as head of State." In possibly related news...an upsurge of media interest in Shinto's nationalistic past, and the resuscitation of this Bush anecdote.
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