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Author Topic: Deification of political leaders  (Read 2710 times)

Jabberwocky

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Re: Deification of political leaders
« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2017, 08:48:03 pm »
Quote from: Sefiru;203798
You make a good point, though I was thinking more of the practice of posthumously deifying people. Though the modern examples of that I can think of (Stalin, Kim Il-Sung) are not very positive.
 

 
In terms of informal deification, Che guevara, Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela would all qualify I think.

Because what we're dealing with there is the avatar of rebellion, the people's princess and the peacemaker.

It doesn't necessarily have much to do with who they actually were as people.
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Sefiru

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Re: Deification of political leaders
« Reply #16 on: March 23, 2017, 05:59:43 pm »
Quote from: Jabberwocky;204035

It doesn't necessarily have much to do with who they actually were as people.

 
Also a point worth thinking about.
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Louisvillian

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Re: Deification of political leaders
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2017, 12:56:23 am »
Quote from: Sefiru;203754
It being the Ides of March, I have been thinking about Roman Emperors and the deification thereof. Is there any applicability of this concept in modern times? Does such a practice have any place in a democratic society? What criteria would you use to determine if a leader gets to be deified?
You certainly can venerate the spirits of whomever you want, but at least with the Religio Romana there is a bit of a catch. The ancient Romans had certain religious institutions with state sanction, the Senate in particular and its various colleges of priesthoods. These were considered to have religious and political authority owing to a particular, especial connection to the gods through state-managed public rites and augury. The ancient Romans had an institution with the legitimacy to declare whether a dead human being had become a god or not.
Such an institution does not exist today. Not with unambiguous recognition and authority. And that's probably for the best, in the long run.

So, I restrict my public worship of deified persons to those unambiguously deified by an institution with the authority to declare it.
However, I do venerate certain tutelary or protective spirits of institutions, persons, places. That is distinct from deification, owing to the distinction between deus and genius.

Quote from: Jabberwocky;204035
It doesn't necessarily have much to do with who they actually were as people.
This is also true. Who they were as people does not always have as much impact or legacy as what they did, or what they inspired, or what they represent. Much as a god can be the personification of an ideal, so too can a deified or apotheosized person.
Take the classic example of Gaius Julius Caesar: as a man, he was a self-serving, ruthless, remorseless killer and tyrant. But as an icon, he was the solid break between the Old res publica and the New, the progenitor of the Augustan rebirth.
It's like what Bruce Wayne talks about in Batman Begins: "As a man, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol [...] I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting."
« Last Edit: April 01, 2017, 01:04:57 am by Louisvillian »

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