In past parts of this series I have touched upon how governments use religious rituals to reinforce loyalty and obedience to it, such as with the Pledge of Allegiance, but haven’t gone into much depth on the subject. Here I really dig into the concept and explore some concrete examples of the ways that the government manipulates religious symbolism, religious architecture, and the natural feelings of the people to present itself and its officials as divine and to command obedience from the masses. For examples of this idolatry, I look at such religious artworks as The Apotheosis of George Washington and the Enthroned Washington and such religious architecture as the American temples, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, and the religious messages thereof.
