Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Theocracy

Throughout time there have been many theocratic governments. Thou overall I believe they fail. They are established as a stronghold for power over the general public. People believe that since the government revolves around a religion that it will uphold the beliefs and morals it ‘stands for’. But it’s pretty common for established people in power to abuse such trust and govern the people as a monarch, and then change the religious beliefs to better suit them. This happened with the Egyptians under Akhenaten as he changed the religion and the capital. Also the Christian religions of west Europe ruled tightly with the monarchs. When religious ideas didn’t please kings, some broke away and created a Christian sect that worked for them (King Henry the 8th).
Overall theocratic governments can hold nations together for a while but they tend to break down. Even today Muslim countries are struggling with their populations wanting more freedoms. Some want less religion in the government and others want to keep the power they have. It’s a difficult and often bloody struggle to change a theocracy because religious beliefs get mixed in with personal freedoms. Therefore I believe religion and politics sound be separated but each honor the other.

No comments: