The myth of the state, or the state's religious legitimation

Authors

• Carl-Martin Edsman

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67078

Keywords:

State and religion, Myth, Authority, National socialism -- Germany, Ideology, Marxism, Church and state, Third World, Islam and state

Abstract

The myth of the state is used for legitimating certain actions. For example, the ideologist of National Socialism, A. Rosenberg, used the term myth for the belief or conception of life which was to sustain the new state. The Third Reich's myth was the superiority and glory of the Aryan' race. In addition, Hitler compared the requisite official ideology or philosophy to a religion. It must be intolerant like a religion; it demanded total submission, organization and devotion to struggle. Even Hitler's comrade in arms, Mussolini, used similar language, although the substance was partially different. Thus in a speech at Naples in 1922, Mussolini said: "We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, it is passion. It is not necessary that it shall be a reality. It is a reality by the fact that it is a goad, a hope, a faith, that it is courage. Our myth is the nation, our myth is the greatness of the nation ! In the Third World, besides native traditions, there are ideas taken from the Christian or secularized West. The first type of appropriation may have taken place long ago or in our own time. Within Islam, an offshoot from Judaism and Christianity, the theocratic consciousness is highly evident. The holder of political power is the instrument of God and shall therefore be obeyed. The ruler, on the other hand, shall consult his subjects, and the believers shall do the same among themselves and assist each other in word and deed.