The Source of Authority in Government

Over time, we have tried many sources of authority for governing ourselves. The desire for legitimate authority has been intensified by the expanding need for government. One driver behind this need is the constantly rising population density we create. So far in our history, we have found that the denser the population, the greater the need is for more intrusive government. Proponents of limited government and individual liberties have struggled in vain against this equation.

Tribal consensus, divine right of kings, rule by priests and rule by the strongest and most murderous were all tried and still are used. Secular government through widely dispersed power sharing is the latest and most successful style to appear. But belief in the older sources of authority has not gone quietly.

Much of the present struggle is caused by Muslims who do not want secular authority to dominate religious authority. They correctly see the success of secular authority as the defeat of the political aspect of Islam. The struggle within Islam and between Islam and the West revolves around this issue, made more virulent by Muslim dreams of once more dominating a lost empire through cultural and religious supremacy.

The attempt to make Islamic law the highest law everywhere is being promoted by two strategies. The more noticeable strategy is physical attack. The more subtle one is carried out through demographics and ideological intimidation of infidels and uncommitted Muslims. The proponents of each strategy want to lead the effort and eliminate their Islamic competitors, but will always close ranks against the infidel and the apostate.

This effort to re-place religious authority at the top is causing an echo effect in the West by drawing attention to the recent reduction of religious authority in the West. Westerners who prefer more religious authority in government see the conflict as an extension of the historical struggle between two irreconcilable religious authorities—a clash of civilizations—in addition to the larger struggle between religious and secular authority.

Some possible outcomes of this high-stakes struggle:

--Islamic law becomes much more dominant in the Muslim-dominated parts of the world.
--Jewish and Christian laws become much more dominant in the West.
--Religious law of all kinds continues to decline in importance in relation to secular law.
--One version of religious law becomes dominant in the world.