It was Mark Twain who said "Never discuss politics or religion in polite company.” His thinking was that people hold these beliefs and views with intense emotion and that discussing these topics were quick to spark heated disputes and destroy social harmony. When it comes to religion and politics, he said "a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's"
That's funny, but the real reason why the temperature in a room changes when someone brings up a political view and people rush to change the subject - goes much deeper than that. When you peel away the layers - the reason behind our heated defense of any ideology political or otherwise is - idolatry.
When God is removed as the foundation and fulfilment of our lives we create a vacuum and then elevate something to "can't live without it" status. When that thing is threatened - we will fight to protect it because our self image has become dependant on it. One such idol is the subtle idol of power or control. This week we'll look at the mercy of God toward an insecure king worshipping his power idol.
