Mixing government and religion is primitive nonsense

There have been many instances throughout history when religion has been mixed with government.

During the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, the pharaohs were believed to have been reborn as the god Osiris after they died.

During the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt, Amen-Ra was the state god.

Under the Heliopolis priesthood, the pharaohs were seen as the sons of the sun god Ra.

The Sumerian ruler of the ancient city of Uruk (in modern Iraq) Lugalzaggisi was priest of the god An as well as prophet of the goddess Nisaba.

The Babylonian god Marduk was the chief god of the city of Babylon as well as the national god of Babylonia.

The Assyrian god Ashur was the city god of the city of Ashur as well as the national god of Assyria.

The ancient Hittites deified their kings after death as gods. Also, the Hittite king was the chief priest.

The king in the ancient city of Ugarit (in modern Syria) had priestly functions and was a prophet who supposedly received revelations.

The Persian king Xerxes claimed that the god Ahura Mazda favored him to destroy a sanctuary of daevas, the ancient pre-Zoroastrian gods, where daevas were worshipped.

Under the Persian Sassanians, Zoroastrianism was the state religion. The founder of the Sassanian dynasty, Ardashir I believed himself to be doing the will of the god Ahura Mazda.

In ancient Rome, the supreme god Jupiter by the name Iuppiter Optimus Maximus was the protector of the republic, as well as the protector of the Roman emperor beginning with the first emperor Augustus. Also, until 382 CE, Julius Caesar and the Roman emperors after him held the post of "pontifex maximus," the high priest of the Roman state cult.

The Roman emperor Elagabalus gave the Semitic Syrian god Elagabal the Latin name Deus Sol Invictus, meaning, 'God the Undefeated Sun.' He also made the god Elagabal Deus Sol Invictus dominant over the gods of the Roman pantheon. This cult was later banned after Elagabalus was murdered. But about 50 years later, the Roman emperor Aurelian reintroduced the cult of the god Elagabal to Rome where he was worshipped in a new fashion that was more acceptable to Romans than in the earlier cult under the emperor Elagabalus. This new cult remained the chief imperial cult until it was replaced by Christianity.

The religion of the Inca was the state religion under the Inca empire. The sun god Inti was the most important of the state cult, and the worship of him was imposed throughout the Inca empire.

The Inca emperors were supposedly direct descendants of the sun god Inti.

State Shinto was the official religion of Japan from 1868 to 1945. During this time, the Japanese emperor was seen as divine because of his supposed descent from the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, and obeisance at Shinto shrines was considered patriotic.

In the United Kingdom, there is God save the Queen or King.

The German phrase Gott Mit Uns (God With Us) was used by Nazi Germany.

In the United States, "In God We Trust" is on U.S. money and "Under God" is in the U.S. pledge of allegiance.


So, I say that theocracy is primitive nonsense derived from superstitious cultures and societies. Mixing government and religion is an archaic notion that doesn't belong in the 21st century. We should know better nowadays. I'll use the United States as an example. In God We Trust on U.S. money and Under God in the U.S. pledge of allegiance both send the message that U.S. citizens who do believe in God are superior to U.S. citizens who don't believe in God. Or one could say that they send the message that those who believe in God are favored or receive special treatment by the government. It's just religious patriotic nonsense that denies equality between religious folks and non-religious folks.