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Editorial: You gotta have faith

Whether or not the escapades of former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) make any sense in hard political terms, there is no mistaking the messianic flavor of yesterday's "siege" demonstration on the Presidential Office and residential compound.

With appeals to a celestial perspective (imitation Nazca lines), moral pronouncements that reach to the very core of good and evil (likening the Democratic Progressive Party not only to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party, but now also the Nazis and Benito Mussolini) and public fantasies of martyrdom (Chen's assassin has not shown up, so an alleged tumor in Shih's liver will suffice), Shih has not disappointed political observers who delight in displays of hyperbole with a theological edge.

Shih is not so deluded that he would consider himself to be a deity, but his holier-than-thou performance over the last weeks gives the pundits rich case material for a study of religious fervor and the seeding of personality cults and fascism.

Shih's sanctity might also help us to understand his willingness to denounce, with a clear conscience, the Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) -- one of his most devoted allies when Shih was on the run from security forces.

It also offers an insight into how he can bear to stand beside the likes of People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) -- one-time loyal servant of despotism, large-scale tax avoider and admitted thief -- in furthering his cause of deposing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

It is easy to take Christian analogies too far in this scenario, but it is tempting to see Shih looking at Soong -- as Christ looked at the thieves crucified beside him -- and saving him by forgiving him for his sins.

But it would be unfair to single out Shih in this regard. Appeals to faith -- including the Christian God -- are no stranger to Taiwanese politics; they go back at least as far as dictator Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) conversion to Christianity.

In more recent years, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has lectured his minions on the paramount importance of God and faith -- including in political life.

And Chen himself has dabbled in a bit of dubious Christ projection, insisting that he has the strength to bear the cross of the nation's woes so that he can help Taiwan reach Lee's Promised Land.

The irony is that so much Christian symbolism underlies politicking at a national level, yet it is only when politics mixes with Han religions on the ground that things become a little more volatile. Witness the clash in Tainan a few weeks ago when a temple became the scene of a scuffle between groups of protesters -- both appealing to the deity of the temple for support and credibility.

None of this uneasy appropriation of religion for political ends provokes much comment, least of all among Christian denominations that seem to be happy to receive a bit of recognition.

Even so, enough of this Mandate of Heaven posing. The nation's political credibility is rarely advanced by appeals to spiritual authority. Politicians are of this Earth, and do not lend themselves any credibility by linking themselves, their successes or their failures to a higher realm. The classic separation of Church and state has several important functions; one of them is to keep these people accountable for their excesses on mortal terms.
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