Steve Patterson: God’s Sovereignty, Democracy and Fascism

 

 

Nemiss.News is glad for the return of Steve Patterson to our Opinion page. His many fans will be happy to know that he has, at last, picked up his pen again.

 

 

“It is a most blessed thing to be subject to the sovereignty of God.”
                     –John Calvin

 

What is sovereign in your life? Is it a theological or political doctrine? Is it an economic system that allows you to amass wealth? Perhaps it’s the temporal dimension of pleasure? Or is it God, the creator of heaven and earth?

Ponder on that a moment: God, who created and sustains all things knows all about you, your circumstances, your desires, your prejudices, your weaknesses, and your strengths. He knows your name and gave you your personality. He knows you far better than you know yourself. If you ever doubted God’s sovereignty in your life, if you are skeptical that God made you for a purpose, I encourage you to read the lyrical beauty and profound wisdom found in the Psalms of David. The book of Psalms showcases God’s love, sovereignty, and providence in our lives. In fact, the Holy Scriptures in their entirety are a comprehensive testament to the sovereignty of a loving creator.

I recognize that not everyone believes in a sovereign God. I do, and it’s from that perspective that I write this essay. I believe the Lord God omnipotent reigns. His government rules over inanimate matter, the children of man, the heavens and stars, over both good and evil, and even over Satan himself. It is upon this belief that I rest my faith. It is upon this foundation that my intellect rests. It is my steadfast belief that the Lord God Almighty governs the universe. A sovereign God is ruling according to his own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory. It is in this knowledge that my soul is solidly anchored.

No ideology, no creed, no doctrine, no dogma can truly be sovereign. Not socialism, not communism, not fascism, not even Democracy can replace God’s grand design for our individual lives and our collective needs. Throughout human history, man has struggled to create a means for humanity to bring some kind of order, some rational basis, for an equitable distribution of scarce resources that ensures peace, stability, and some measure of freedom and liberty. Monarchies, authoritarian dictatorships, fascism, communism, varieties of socialism, and democracies have all laid claim to sovereign rule. Many acknowledge God’s sovereignty, but all place their faith in the sovereign leadership of man. Needless to say, this is essential because God’s kingdom has not yet become transcendent here on earth. Nevertheless, some systems of governance deny the existence of a sovereign God altogether, while others acknowledge God’s sovereignty and do their best to abide by his sovereign rule. Few if any still embrace the “Divine Right” of kings.

In my view, various methods of ordering societies, of governing the masses of people, have proved inadequate and have therefore failed because of their limits on freedom and their inability to recognize the absolute rule of a sovereign God. Monarchies, fascism, and communism, have all failed because they were imperfect vehicles for the expression of freedom and the recognition of God’s sovereign rule. Liberal Democracies, on the other hand, which allow mankind the greatest freedom possible, have triumphed. Under the construct of traditional liberal Democracy, the sovereignty of God’s will can be debated, but not his sovereignty over both individual and national life. Enough people of all faiths in a free society exist to ensure that divine ordination cannot be scorned, and no man, no ideology, no system of governance can dare replace the reign of a sovereign God.

In the United States and most of the western world, the defining struggles of the twentieth century and until today have been, in succession, Democracy vs Fascism and Democracy vs Communism.

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against the authoritarian government of Germany. President Wilson asserted this declaration of war was “necessary to make the world safe for Democracy.”

President Wilson, a devout Presbyterian, who was one of the last Presidents to write his own speeches, admonished the U. S. Congress, and indeed the American people, to recognize ”when people were nowhere consulted by their rulers, and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow man as pawns and tools.” That behavior cannot be tolerated by people yearning for liberty, justice, and freedom everywhere.

President Wilson’s message to Congress was a clear recognition that no small group of men can claim sovereignty in a world ruled by a sovereign God. The United States was now a vital part of the fight against fascism and joined the battlefields of World War One.

Just a little more than twenty years later, humanity came to realize that the world was still “not safe for democracy” with the rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany, Benito Mussolini in Italy, and an authoritarian military in Imperial Japan. Fascism had once again reared its ugly head.

So what exactly is this thing called fascism that we fought against so passionately then, and hear so much about today? Politicians, both left and right, have now taken to hurling the barbs of calling each other “fascist” with increasing and alarming regularity. In my view, this spells disaster for informed political discourse. The ideological extremes are quick to toss this fascist label at their opponents, with a cavalier disregard for an understanding of its true meaning.

Why? You may ask. Because fascism is much more sinister than anything we have witnessed here. Yes, we are indeed seeing the rise of authoritarianism, but to call it “fascism” is a bridge a bit too far.

On March 25, 1945, the United States Department of War issued “Fact Sheet#64:Fascism.” The opening paragraph states, “Fascism is not the easiest thing to identify and analyze; nor, once in power, is it easy to destroy. It is important for our future and that of the world that as many of us as possible understand the causes and practices of fascism,in order to combat it.”

The War Department’s warnings are worth revisiting today, given the rising attacks on legal due process and crazy talk of a second Civil War.

Four key points were made for our soldiers serving in Europe and the Pacific islands, by the war Department:
(1) Fascism is more apt to come to power at a time of economic crisis.
(2) Fascism inevitably leads to war.
(3) It can come to any country.
(4) We can best combat it by making our democracy work.

As a simple definition, the War Department described Fascism as “the opposite of democracy. The people run democratic governments, but fascist governments run the people. Fascism is government by the few and for the few.” Fascists remain in power through,”skillful manipulation of fear and hate, and by false promises of security–at the very time that the fascists claimed their party was the party of the average citizen, they were in the pay of certain big industrialist and financiers–they played political, religious, social and economic groups against each other and seized power while these groups struggled against each other.”

All of this sounds very familiar today. It is often said that history repeats itself and history has cycles. George Santayana’s warning, along with Arthur Schlesinger’s historical insight, has been taught through the generations as though it’s some kind of civic commandment. Indeed, “Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.” But, perhaps the truth is more profound: Perhaps we do not learn history’s lessons because we forget, but because human nature insists on rebellion against the lessons of a sovereign God.

Even when we remember, human nature insists that we yield to the same old temptations of power, pride, fear and greed. These failures of the human condition are what lead nations to war, topple empires, and corrupt democratic institutions. This is what makes today’s political discourse so unnerving. We already know where division leads. We have learned those lessons from a sovereign God in the history lessons He has repeatedly taught. We have read the cautionary tales, studied the fractures that brought down the Roman Empire, the sectarian violence that tore Europe apart, and the bloody Civil War that nearly destroyed our own nation. And yet, here we are, watching our leaders elevate anger over reason, contempt over compromise, and power over principle. I fear these leaders have not forgotten God’s history lesson — they simply don’t think it applies to them. Depraved human nature whispers “Forget history.” The lust for power, greed, and wealth is intoxicating. None of this is new, the scriptures as well as history books are filled with warnings, yet, just as in Biblical times, the warnings go unheeded by leaders and the public alike. Human nature’s old poisons are just repackaged into modern slogans. Doubt it? It’s on the nightly news every night!

So, where will it all end? Will our fragile republic survive? Will we learn the lessons of history that our sovereign God has taught us since creation? Will fascism grow stronger and continue to challenge our freedoms, liberty, and democratic institutions? Will we repeat the cycle and surrender to grievances, division, and control? Will we at last suppress our human nature and bend history’s arc toward freedom and liberty? I don’t know. But I do know that my sovereign God is in control, and He knows the future.

My faith is in my sovereign God. I joyfully recognize His ownership of my country, my abilities, my very life. He is the author of all human history. He has given us centuries of lessons to learn. Only He knows if we pass the test. God’s sovereignty in no way absolves us of responsibilities; rather, it’s an invitation to partner with Him in His redemptive work.

In these perilous times, we take solace in the old spiritual that affirms our faith in a sovereign God:

He’s got the whole world in his hands

He’s got everybody here in his hands

He’s got everybody there in his hands

He’s got the whole world in his hands

Yes, He does!!!!