Statism has truly become the most evil, corrupt, deadlist religion ever devised by man. I used to just simply think that there were just a few corrupt people in Goverment but that most people were generally good. I don’t think people are evil. I do think that the way the current government is set up, there is no denying that the State is the modern Church, and in my opinion, even more oppressive than religion.
Temples
Public School buildings
Used as a place of learning and of indoctrination into a certain set of principles, temples and schools are essentially the same thing. They are used to instill and convey what is acceptable thought and behavior and what is unacceptable thought and behavior.
Diety, or Higher Power
The Government
The government is not a tangible being, it is some mystical, larger-than-life power. That has an aura of “always” existing. Being larger-than-life and unquestionable. The State expects the citizens to just accept the premise that the state has always existed and will always exist, otherwise it’s illusion of immortality.
Holy Books
Books of law / Civil Code / Text Books
This could also be expanded to other cornerstone texts like the Declaration of Independence which one could compare to Martin Luthers 95 Theses. The purpose of the holy books is to outline what acceptable behavior is and what is not acceptable behavior. They convey the rules and responsibilities of different people in society and they tell popular parables.
Clergy
Judges/ Elected officials / Police Officers / Teachers
These groups always protect their own and have separate rules and customs they live by. They have special intestests that may or may not align with the Soviety as a whole, but they are distinct. Almost all public employees are unionized, which overtly outlines their special interests as separate and distinct. We often hear of the thin blue line of police officers. It’s not that the thin blue line is there to protect us citizens, it’s there to draw a line between the police and the citizens. It’s a line drawn so that they, inside the police brotherhood protect each other.
Rituals
Elections / Inaugurations / Holidays / Pledge of Aligence
We take time away from work and hold parades, have family and community gatherings. We even wear special clothing and have speeches. These rituals have direct correlation with religious rituals such as baptism, communion, or saying the rosary. They instill a sense of likeness.
Hymns / Worship
National Anthem / Flag
These symbols, just like the cross, the rosary or having songs of worship before a sermon. Just like before sporting events, there is the presentation of the flag and in international sport, the playing of the anthem of the home nation of the victorious team. These symbols signify what tribe a person is part of and give the tribes something to unite behind.
Crusades
Wars of Agression
Just like in the darker ages when religious factions warred and murdered each other because one group believed in a different God than another group, today we have wars of agression because one nation believes in their state and another nation believes in their nation. In the end many people have died and little progress has been made.
Tithes
Taxation
Before the American Revolution, most of the colonies were organized by religious sects. They didn’t collect taxes through the colony / state, but they did require mandatory tithes from the congregants and theses tithes were then used for the social Welfare of the community. Over generations, we’ve allowed the illusion of a separation between church and state to force the delegation of social welfare from the church to the state.
Commandments
Laws
It’s even more than a little creepy how similar some of the modern day punishments for breaking laws are to biblical punishments for breaking the commandments. We lock people in cages with inadequate medical care for complex health conditions.
Sects
Political Parties
In the end, the major political parties essentially believe and are working for the same things. They want a docile and obedient public and they want to amass as much power as they can. These political parties give people their tribal identity.
Infallibility
The government is seen as infallible and you can be punished (by just a general public shaming, or by officially sanctioned action) if you dare question the legitimacy of the government’s authority. The infallibility of the state is simply assumed and those who question the premise of this infallibility are shunned and treated as heretics because they refuse to align with one tribe or the other.
There are entire books on this subject and how allowing the state to substitute for a religion is dangerous and admittedly I have plenty more to study on this particular subject. Once a person starts opening their eyes to all of these things, it is hard to go back to the way their mind worked before. The more you see of the truth, the more truth there is to see.