BCiF: A sad state of life exists here on earth and it's where somebody's been possessed with demons and can do nothing of his own accord but is controlled by remote. This, I am convinced, is the state of all world leaders known as presidents, politicians and bishops.
I only differ with you here because I don't underestimate human capacity to take on the role of demons or Satan. In Hebrew "ha Shatan" simply meant, "the adversary", and was used in reference to other people. Power corrupts. Lord of the Rings was a fantasy film about power. In the hands of the people who knew what they could do with it, it was a great temptation. It was only the innocent one who could handle it. Innocent and simple.
I know what I could do if I had a lot of power. I can imagine it. And even though I think I would be good to the masses I would also probably be seduced to be like another Solomon. Even with the amount of money I've made I started going to strip clubs and even engaged in prostitution in the past. Was I hurting anyone? That was my only concern. And that's how I justified anything I did and anything I still do. Am I hurting anyone or is there a mutual agreement and benefit?
And sometimes, going to the dark underbelly of society you come back with new experience and understanding. Some may hate it while others love it. People do things for different reasons, good and bad, so it's best not to judge. Because people judge but do nothing to help those people live any differently. But getting back to the subject, if you look at David and what he did, you look at these biblical patriarchs and how they were wealthy with multiple wives and often concubines... and we often give them a pass to a large degree.
But if David could send a man to the front lines to be killed so that he could have his wife? That, to me, is a level I couldn't get to. But that wasn't demon possession. That him not having a sense of morality and spirituality that would make the idea impossible. He saw that it was within his power. That's it. And so when other leaders get put into that same position with power... they will often act in their own self interests. This should, to some degree, be expected. That's the reason the US developed a system of checks and balances. And since elected officials need votes the ultimate check is at the voting booth. Even though we do try to shame our US leaders into doing the right thing we don't try to check them using morality but rather the practical recompense of losing that power they abuse.
Reasons why you must have term limits!
But just like Bilbo Baggins had the ring for too long and it was starting to pervert him, power can corrupt even the most innocent and turn them into demons. That is the nature of power.
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