I was searching for information on something utterly unrelated; otherwise I would never have stumbled upon
this essay at Christianity Today, ominously titled, "Your Government Failed You," and authored by Bob Wenz of the National Association of Evangelicals.
It's nothing earthshattering, really, and in some cases the argument--clearly in the apologetics genre--is at time muddled, but it provides another glimpse into the net the Christian Right is constructing to trap and neutralize those members who might attempt to think for themselves and question whether George Bush really has God's approval.
Here, Wenz argues that the government, which he describes as ordained by God "to function in that capacity to a limited degree--to punish evildoers," can't and shouldn't be held responsible for such things as the failure of Social Security, the economy, or terrorist attacks in the United States, because, unlike God, the government is neither omniscient nor omnipotent:
[Richard] Clarke seemed to presume that "your government" should somehow have been able to anticipate and prevent evil from happening--both the evil that we call natural disasters, and the evil that comes directly from the hearts and hands of evil people. It is a false premise. To presume the government's ability to prevent such a catastrophe is to assume that it possesses qualities and abilities that no person, let alone a government, can ever possess.
Omniscience and omnipotence are qualities that we ascribe only to God. Clarke fails to recognize the inherent limitations of government. The U.S. Constitution certainly envisions no omniscience or omnipotence for the federal government.
Omnipotent, omniscient God, of course, didn't stop the terrorist attacks because he "has decided not to directly restrain our evil tendencies"--it was our own sinful nature that brought this upon us, but we've heard this all before. Wenz uses this argument to bludgeon people he calls philosophical and practical atheists--I'm assuming that philosophical atheists are those who don't believe in God, but by "practical atheists," he seems to be referring to anyone--Christian or not--who believes that government must be reliable and thinks that the Bush Administration was asleep at the switch. So, if you don't want to be classed with the despicable godless, you'd better stop asking questions--and stop asking your government to be responsible.
And, of course, this takes care of that nasty little question of "Christian values." Governments aren't meant to help the poor and the sick and protect the weak and helpless, after all. They are put on this earth to punish "evildoers," as he says above. That's all. If you expect anything more of your government--well, then, you must be a practical atheist who places your trust in government instead of God! And, by extrapolation, if you do fall sick, or poor, or homeless, or if you are the victim of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, it's not because of bad luck or government negligence--it's apparently because of your sinful nature.