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Government

5 min • March 19, 2025

Some form of democracy seems to inherently be the most just form of government in this lifetime. The Church has not officially declared this that I know of, but the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia’s article on Civil Authority seems to have strong reasons to justify this, which correlates very well to Romans 13, in which Paul implies at least that there is no divine right of kings, and asserts that even corrupt governments and revolutions are authorized by God. St. Aquinas and Erasmus agreed that the collective people hold the actual authority.

The beginning of democracy and the principle behind it seem both to stem from the fact that Adam obeyed to the voice of Eve instead of the words of God. Since society wanted to govern itself, society now gets to governs itself. Since the people wouldn’t submit to God’s restrictions, the people continue to submit to the people’s collective restrictions.

But democracy is inherently going to fail, as it is the kingdom of the Dragon, who founded it in Eden and continues to rule over it. The kingdom of the dragon is inherently a democracy in which every will reigns supreme. The kingdom of God is inherently a monarchy in which we all do God’s will. The finality of the kingdom of the Dragon is the eternal Hell in which each will reigns supreme, no matter how incompatible, divergent, and harmful, which inherently ends in the destruction of society. The finality of the kingdom of God is Heaven, in which God’s law reigns supreme, forever unimpeded by our own fallibility.

There is no divine right of kings. Any government that rules is instituted and authorized by God. Even evil governments are allowed by God to exist for a while, until they inevitably fail from within or without. Just because a government is overthrown successfully by God’s permission, the fact of his allowing it does not justify it in the sight of God as not sinful. But even trying to overthrow an evil government doesn’t seem to be sinful, even if it fails.

The kingdom of God rewards good, the kingdom of the Dragon rewards evil. It’s probably not likely for a saint to be a successful king for a long time in this life. Good morals are rewarded in the next kingdom, and this kingdom is only a necessary evil for a time. God’s principles to not translate well to the Dragon’s principles, and are not useful for prolonging the Dragon’s kingdom.

In the UK, it’s reportedly now illegal to pray silently near an abortion clinic, or to repost videos on social media that cause others anxiety. In other words, it’s allegedly illegal there to hurt people’s feelings. This precedent was set by King Henry VIII about five centuries ago. He forced everyone to declare that his marriage was not immoral or else be executed, like Sts. Thomas More and Bishop Fisher were. The movie A Man For All Seasons (both the 1966 and 1988 versions) are absolute must watch movies to learn about integrity, the right to private conscience, political ethics, and religious freedom.

There is a difficult question of how to restore justice to a government that has become so corrupt that all official and lawful means prove useless for long periods of time. It doesn’t help to plead desperately with people who have rejected conscience and have no incentive to stop committing injustices for profit.

Theocracy doesn’t seem like a good form of government in this life. New citizens will be born into it who do not agree with the religion forced upon them by the government. Adults who do believe it in will sometimes change their minds and disbelieve. Laws should be baseline restrictions on all people collectively, to create an environment where everyone of different beliefs and morals can work out their own life story without genuinely unnecessary obstacles. Laws are inherently restrictive of our free will, and should prevent serious injustices agreed upon by the collective people based on their own experiences. But delusion is very real and widespread, which makes such agreement difficult, and nobody is inherently guaranteed to be immune to delusion. A nation that can’t agree to disagree and at least shake hands on some basics will eventually fall from within, just as Satan will eventually rise up against Satan and his kingdom will fall.

Politics is not the solution to world peace. Each of us becoming good is the solution. If everyone suddenly became good, we would have world peace, insofar as social conduct goes. Grace is needed for that. Jesus Christ came into the world, full of grace and truth. Politics is religion for those who don’t have the power of religion but only the appearance of it. (2 Timothy 3:5)

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