This "Epiphany of the Tetrarchs" served as the divine foundation of the regime.
Rumors, introduced inside Cuba by C.I.A. agents, that Castro was doomed would lead Cubans to interpret the lights in the sky as a sign of divine disapproval of the regime.
Humans will cling to these deceptions anyway, just as they have clung to the idea of heaven and the divine ordination of oppressive regimes, but such fantasies are becoming harder and harder to maintain.
Many of its practitioners embrace the teachings of al-Qa'ida which sees taking the fight to non-Muslims – and especially non-Islamic regimes – as a divine struggle – or jihad.
Noting this, some conservatives have changed tack and are now playing down the importance of a large turnout, insisting that the regime derives its legitimacy from the divine order, not from the people.
Although such statements provide no comfort that Iran will not go nuclear (god can, after all, change his divine, everlasting mind), they do provide a face-saving argument for the regime to its own people to accept restrictions and inspections.
The Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, said the drought was divine punishment for those who were not praying regularly and who failed to support the Islamic regime.
The regime is held together by the myth that members of the Kim family are gods, ruling by divine providence.
In spite of Spinoza's insistence on the superstitious foundations of the ancient Israelite state, however, his account of its regime was not wholly unsympathetic, especially regarding its ability to curb human tyranny by its doctrine of divine sovereignty.
Even if you are not assured of divine backing, and are reluctant to resort to contemporary analogs of the Biblical plagues, recent history shows that other regime-shaking tactics are available.
