Advantages and Disadvantages: Theocratic Government

A theocratic government would be ruled by a leader that was commanded by a god. It was believed that a god would give divine rule to this leader and he would be the interceptor for this god. This includes the worship of only one god, and the following of his commands. This type of government brings many advantages and disadvantages to the state.

One of the biggest advantages would be the control towards people. Everything had rules and most people followed the rules because they knew that it was a command of god to do so. This would bring unity also because everyone would worship the same god and everyone would be on the same page. But the disadvantages of a theocratic state come when these certain rules do not satisfy everyone in the state. Even today, not everyone can agree on everything. One of the main things we disagree on is beliefs and religion. Because not everyone wanted to follow the worshipped god in the state, they had the right to have their own beliefs. Except that in a theocratic government, going against the law means punishment. For example, during Byzantines’ time, anyone that worshipped a different religion was prosecuted. This comes along with not having any freedom of religion and freedom of speech, rights which we appreciate today. So a theocratic state cannot be a perfect one because there has always been disagreement and there will always be.