The Illegitimate President

Amongst all peoples of all the world throughout history, individuals have always had one of two tendencies:

• Worship God, and rely on Him (in whatever form) for salvation
• Worship man, and rely on him for salvation

Those who consider themselves non-believers tend to do the latter, and tend to look to the government and civil servants to provide for their needs, to make the right choices for them, and to save them from the ills of the world.

Selwyn Duke describes how we in modern America are repeating the cycle of history, yet again, by substituting faith in a man for faith in God and self-reliance:

Well, not only are we descending into effete collectivism, we also receive no special dispensation from the laws governing man. And, most significantly, we see the symptoms, such as the presidency taking on a more godlike role as time marches on. No man can ever be omnipresent, but the president is ever more present in our lives year by year; no man can ever be all-powerful, but the president is ever more powerful with time’s passage. As Gene Healy wrote in his book The Cult of the Presidency:

The chief executive of the United States is no longer a mere constitutional officer charged with faithful execution of the laws. He is a soul nourisher, a hope giver, a living American talisman against hurricanes, terrorism, economic downturns, and spiritual malaise. He … is the one who answers the phone at 3 a.m. to keep our children safe from harm. The modern president is America’s shrink, a social worker, our very own national talk show host. He’s also the Supreme Warlord of the Earth.

It’s true. The president’s role expands as people clamor for him to reach for the heavens, blithely unaware that the only taste of the supernatural government can offer is a glimpse of Hell.