Consider the presidential priesthood

Is America male or female?

One image of America is the Statue of Liberty. Old U.S. silver coins show Liberty as a woman in gossamer, standing or walking. The patriotic songs we sing about our country praise her beauty, her majesty, her fertility, and proclaim her as sweet. We are not a fatherland.

As a culture, we still operate within an ancient mythos, one with links to the pagan world. Then the king was the tallest, strongest, bravest man in the kingdom, and in pagan understanding the king made the land whole and productive. In a sense, he married the land and made it fertile, and so a king without sexual vigor blighted the land and made it barren.

Our behavior after a new president is elected reflects this. For a few weeks the country is in a honeymoon state, in love with New President and everything about him. After that, the bloom is off the rose and everything is his fault. Everything. And why were we stupid enough to pick him?

But in this election we have a female candidate. Oh, that can’t be right, can it? If the president-king is married to the land, and makes it productive, his job cannot be done by a woman.

Perhaps this partially explains the visceral discomfort people feel at the thought of Hillary Clinton occupying the White House. Our dear beautiful native motherland is becoming a lesbian.

American voters: the presidency is only an elected office, not a mystical pagan priesthood.

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 7:35 AM with the headline "Consider the presidential priesthood."