In a two-letter word, medieval kings invoked the authority of God. Even though these men were well-schooled in how they, or their near ancestors, wrested the throne away from other men, generally through bloody conflict, they still continued their \u201corigin myth\u201d. It\u2019s called the \u201cdivine right of kings\u201d: God Almighty ordained this man or this family, as rulers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That God somehow placed his \u201cgrace\u201d on a pagan-worshiping Viking named Rollo, who brutally conquered Normandy in 918, is hard to figure.\u00a0\u00a0Rollo kidnapped the daughter of a conquered city\u2019s leader; forced her to marry, and had a son that founded the Norman line of Royalty.\u00a0\u00a0Five generations and a century and a half later, his illegitimate descendant William conquered England, and founded his own line of English rulers.\u00a0\u00a0And because they believed, or wanted others to believe, that they were \u201cendowed\u201d by God with their throne, his grandson, Henry II, began speaking in \u201cpluralis majestatis\u201d, <\/em>the \u201cRoyal \u2018We\u2019\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0How can I, the King, be wrong, if God put me here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It remained\u00a0true until the present era.\u00a0\u00a0The Norman line was succeeded by the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Hanovers and finally the House of Sax-Coburg and Gotha who changed their name to Windsor.\u00a0\u00a0King Charles III, sixth in the Windsor\u00a0line, spent an entire lifetime speaking in the singular\u00a0as Prince, not King.\u00a0\u00a0Queen\u00a0Elizabeth,\u00a0his mother, often used the plural tense in her public speeches.\u00a0\u00a0But when she passed away last year, he was confronted with the \u201cRoyal We\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Would, the newly crowned king\u00a0continue to invoke\u00a0this\u201cdivine right\u201d\u00a0in this 21st<\/sup>\u00a0Century?\u00a0\u00a0In his first public speeches as King, he broke\u00a0millennia of tradition, referring to himself, in the singular.\u00a0\u00a0He said \u201cI\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a track coach, I represented my team.\u00a0\u00a0When I did media interviews, I often spoke in the plural.\u00a0\u00a0I wasn\u2019t invoking\u00a0a\u00a0deity;\u00a0\u201cWe planned the season to have our best performances here.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0That wasn\u2019t me and God.\u00a0\u00a0It was me and my amazing coaching staff, or me and our dedicated athletes (see\u00a0the \u2018our\u2019 there;\u00a0they aren\u2019t just \u2018mine\u2019, those athletes\u00a0\u2018belonged\u2019 to\u00a0the coaches,\u00a0\u00a0the school, their parents, themselves, and me too).\u00a0\u00a0I represented all of our efforts, our team.\u00a0\u00a0But when I talked about what I wanted, or what I hoped my best athletes could achieve, I\u00a0intentionally\u00a0used \u2018I\u2019, not \u2018we\u2019.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When a candidate is running for public office, it\u2019s easy to slip into the \u201cRoyal We\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0After all, the candidate is backed by a whole campaign team:\u00a0a manager, media consultants, and volunteers.\u00a0\u00a0And on the bigger campaigns; there\u2019s \u201cbody-men\u201d,\u00a0hairstylists, and makeup artists; as well as all of the issue experts whispering possible answers in the\u00a0candidate\u2019s\u00a0ear.\u00a0\u00a0The candidate is the tip of the iceberg, and is well aware of everyone\u00a0supporting him from\u00a0\u201cbelow\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the end, only the candidate\u2019s name is on the ballot.\u00a0\u00a0And when that\u00a0candidate says\u00a0things like;\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u2026In our speech, we <\/strong>will say\u2026\u201d or, \u201c\u2026\u00a0We<\/strong> don\u2019t think there should be unlimited funds to Ukraine…\u201d; it sounds a whole lot more like the \u201croyal we\u201d then it does a\u00a0person representing a team.\u00a0\u00a0In the 2024 campaign, the prime \u201croyal we\u201d user is the second leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President, Florida\u2019s Governor Ron DeSantis.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I know, you\u2019re thinking this is \u201cmuch ado about nothing\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Surely Ron DeSantis isn\u2019t invoking God on his side by using \u201cwe\u201d instead of \u201cI\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But how can we be sure?\u00a0\u00a0Mike Johnson, the newly christened Speaker of the House of Representatives, made it quite clear that he believed he is \u201cordained of God\u201d to be in his high office, second in line for the Presidency.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is Ron DeSantis trying to remind fundamental Christians that he\u2019s on \u201cGod\u2019s side\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And if God\u2019s on his side, then the corollaries must apply:\u00a0\u00a0God is always right, and those against God, well, you know who\u2019s on their side.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Or we can look at Donald Trump, another man who uses the \u201cRoyal We\u201d constantly.\u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t believe Trump sees himself as ordained by God, but I do think he uses \u201cwe\u201d as a way to dodge individual responsibility for <\/em>his actions.\u00a0\u00a0I guess if I had ninety-one felony charges against me, I\u2019d be looking to spread the blame around as well.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When voters enter the ballot booth (or check their mail ballot), they aren\u2019t voting for a team.\u00a0\u00a0The right-wing extremists who claim Joe Biden is senile; they aren\u2019t talking about the staff or cabinet, they mean Biden in the singular.\u00a0\u00a0When we vote in America, we vote for a person, not a Party (unlike the United Kingdom).\u00a0\u00a0We are choosing an individual, to take individual responsibility for their office, and their actions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nSingular or Plural<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Candidate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We Vote for One<\/h3>\n\n\n\n