@BC
Brutha, I think you misunderstood.
Let's slow down and think about it. Let's say you are the leader of a country of white people. Let's say 97% of the population is white. Is it better, in that situation, to be white or black?
If you are a leader of a country where the population is 97% black, is it better, in that situation, politically, to be black or white?
If these examples are too nebulous for you then take Barack Obama for example. He was born in Hawaii. He is American. You can't even be president of the US if you were born somewhere else. America is a high population of Christians. Racists and white supremacists came out of the woodworks because Obama got elected. ELECTED. Not born into royalty, but duly elected by the people. And we can talk about the racism that Meghan went through also, but Obama being black... NOT even 100%, but just half... that was enough for white supremacy to happily elect a man who claimed that Obama wasn't born in America and a lot of people on their side were trying to make Obama a Muslim.
It's not like we haven't had assassinated presidents in America before. So more you don't match up to the majority, whether it's religion or ethnicity... the more of a problem you're inviting. And leaders have to be concerned with maintaining power and how they can keep from losing it. Because people are going to talk bad about you and create negative propaganda against you. The more you appear to be an "other" the more effective that propaganda becomes. 4 years later we are STILL feeling the backlash from Obama being in office. And this is in a democracy.
The reason why many kings and dictators and emperors used to claim (and at least one who still does) to be the descendant of the gods is because as long as the people recognized those gods, even if you weren't popular, they would still probably not kill you. But that being said, many leaders have been famously killed by their own people and I'm not talking about straight military coups.
So Haile Selassie, being born there is a given. That's not enough to secure the loyalty and support of the people. If you think people don't care what your religion is, you're wrong. If you're their leader? No, you're not free to do whatever you want. Obama wasn't free to be whatever religion he wanted to be. Trump has more freedom to be Trump because he's white and a fellow racist. Obama? No, if Obama did even a fraction of the things Trump has already gotten away with... I would fear for his life. I'm not even remotely kidding.
And if you go back to Ahkenaten, you can see he was a religious revolutionary. Right? If you don't know his story, google him.
But he was referred to as the "the heretic king" because he abandoned polytheism for monotheism. You see the priests had a certain amount of power in the form of influence. The highest religious leaders ALWAYS do. If you don't take them seriously it will hurt you. That's why kings often had priests as advisors. Even Hitler probably could not have done what he did without the Catholic priests. People don't just go along with whatever when it opposes their religious beliefs. The reason America brought in Separation between church and state was exactly because of how powerful the church was; way too powerful if you didn't keep them separate. Crossing that line is what led to the Crusades and the Inquisitions.
So yeah... all of this matters. You can't just say "I am the bloodline of David" and everyone just falls in line. Even Haile Selassie himself was ousted from power in a coup and was kept under house arrest in the palace until he died in 1975. And if you believe the evidence he was actually murdered by the new government.
So this is what I'm saying... You have to play the game. Just because you were born there doesn't mean you have to believe whatever everyone else does. Yeshua confronted the religious leaders of his time and they were actively out to get him. And what eventually happened? They saw their power/authority on a collision course with his and they did what?
They hired false witnesses and sold him out to Rome as a traitor. It was a coup before he could even become king. So again... that was just another example of what can happen if your views are not in line with the traditional views of your religious leaders. But again... being born there... that don't mean anything. A lot of people don't tell their families they have had a change in religious beliefs. Why? Because they don't want the drama. I've had one of my favorite aunts compare me to the devil just on the basis of asking logical questions alone! And my cousin, her son, was like why you do that. And I couldn't help it because she asked a direct question and I couldn't lie to her. Sorry for the personal TMI. The point is that there are always other people besides the king/ruler/pharaoh/emperor/chief/etc who want to have influence and control for their own agenda. The king can't do everything himself. He has to delegate. And the people he delegates to have great influence over that aspect of government. So if they see their support with the people is greater... and they turn against him, it's not a simple thing that they're just going to resign and go home. No, sometimes they simply become the new leader.
So this is why... when you consider the political implications... you cannot say for SURE (I'm not saying he wasn't a true Christian) what is in the heart of a leader on THAT LEVEL because appearances are important. Allies are important. And if you have radical or revolutionary beliefs, you better make sure the people like them before you debut them or else you could be out the door. It doesn't matter who you are. That fear of being overthrown is always there for every leader. That's why Putin poisons people. That's why in many places if you speak against the leader you can be executed. Still. That fear is real for a lot of leaders so while you think they are fearless and strong, some of that is because they have to hide their weaknesses, fears, and differences of opinion, religion, etc. so that the people don't turn against them. It's the reason why the Roman Constantine converted to Christianity. You think it was because he loved God? Hell no! It was about maintaining power over pagans AND Christians.
Hope you understand what I mean now.
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