Whether you support businessman Donald Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, tell me this: on Friday, January 20, 2017, when the 45th President of the United States of America is inaugurated into the White House, will your heart be filled with joy, complacency or terror? Why?

Because government has become God, or rather, government is God. Before casting judgement, please let that thought sit and stir within. Government is God. Is this statement true? False? Heretical? Accurate? Blasphemous? Generally, and stereotypically, a relationship with or a religion committed to a god consists of some degree of trust and worship. Trust is a fairly self-explanatory concept because it is an attribute associated with each and every relationship in a mostly universal sense. However, worship, on the other hand, can be communicated, performed and perceived in a variety of different ways, but at its core, worship is the verbal and/or nonverbal acknowledgement of adoration to a god.

It seems apparent that both trust and worship are essential relational ideals between the people and the government. Think about it. In some way or another, the people’s relationship with the federal, state and local government is either personified as positive or negative, based upon how the government has built and solidified a trust with the people or has completely obliterated the ideals of truth to the point that trust is absent, yet still desired. As a result of the so-called trust, or lack thereof, the people will then worship the government, as if the success and flourishment of their life depends solely upon if the government does or does not accomplish a certain feat, eliminate a specific policy, or “promote the general welfare,” to quote the U.S. Constitution, whatever that may be. Their worship is an acknowledgement of their adoration for or detestation of the government. So, government is God. Yet, it might even be more appropriate to communicate that the people have replaced God with government. Not only is it more appropriate, it is even more accurate than most people realize. Just look back to the roots of Biblical Old Testament literature. Governments exist because true relationship, relationships consisting of ceaseless worshipping and utmost trust, with God does not. Consequently, humanity has tried to seek and restore that connection because they long for it. However, instead of restoring it with the Creator, they have restored it with the concept of government, and we have the audacity to wonder why our nation is slowly falling apart.

On the back of every dollar bill and either the top, bottom, or side of every coin reads the inscription, "In God We Trust." Well, if that is true, then why does the left say that if Trump is elected President, then they will leave this country. Why does the right say that if Hillary is elected President, then they will leave this country. The money does not say "In Trump We Trust," "In Hillary We Trust," or even "Feel the Bern." In his "Remarks at a Dallas Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast" on August 23, 1984, Ronald Reagan articulated that "without God, there is no virtue, because there's no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we're mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."

Are we one nation under God? Or have we become that nation gone under? Just look at the amount of trust and worship or detestation of Trump or Hillary. A nation under God recognizes and trusts in God's sovereign, unchanging plan for this country; whereas, a nation gone under has done everything to silence, ignore, or destroy that recognition and trust.

Whether you support businessman Donald Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, tell me this: on Friday, January 20, 2017, when the 45th President of the United States of America is inaugurated into the White House, will your heart be filled with joy, complacency or terror? Why?

Regardless of which emotion you experience, each one will confirm that your trust is in the candidate, not the Creator.