If the worship of God is forbidden, the state may well turn its own dictator into a deity. This transforms the leader and the regime into objects of devotion and worship. The state is then beyond all rational critique and consideration.

In other words, citizenship is transformed into idolatry. History records the tragic legacy of idolatrous states, led by despots who range from ancient kings to warlike emperors and delusional Fuhrers.

Post Edited (One Love) : 12/21/2011 9:19:03 AM (GMT-6)

Remember what I've talked about human beings becoming little more than walking billboards for one's family, culture, or nation?  Basically, a form of Kierkegaardian "despair of the finite" where one becomes just one of "the crowd"?

I don't have a better demonstration of what that can look like on a major scale than what we are saying right now in North Korea.

Among countless mourners at a public square in North Korea, the kneeling middle-aged man in an off-white windbreaker stands out. The state broadcaster’s camera zooms in as he wails, rocking back and forth with clenched fists, his grief punctuated by the white puffs of his breath visible in the cold of the capital, Pyongyang.

The camera lingers a few seconds too long on this perfect mourner. A couple of rows away, two teenage boys stand motionless, seemingly uncertain about how to behave. They look toward the man — perhaps even at the camera beyond him — then briefly away, before also dropping to their knees to weep.

Post Edited (One Love) : 12/21/2011 9:33:23 AM (GMT-6)