Barack Obama: God's choice?

I was passing by World Net Daily the other day and I found this article, in which people are debating whether Barack Obama was chosen by God to be president. Rebecca Miller brought up a similar point just after the election (I left a comment). The assumption goes off passages like this, "He removes kings and raises up kings" (Daniel 2:21) or "...there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1).

I wonder, though, if Romans 13 is meant to be read in a certain context. How would this explain people like Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Tito, Mao, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe, or Kim Jong-Il? Romans 13 says the "rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong." But what happens when the rulers do wrong? Romans 13 calls them "God's servant" twice, but it is plain as day that the list I just rattled off served their own evil interests. In many of these countries, to submit to the authorities would be to surrender your religious faith and embrace the state. Obviously, they cannot do that.

And if God chooses all leaders, then why have an election? Why should we participate if the choice is divinely ordained? Could we then blame God if our leader does something we don't like? How much responsibility should we give God, or not?

There is another point that I'm finding a little unsettling. From the WND piece:

Andrew Ervin, whose words make it clear he's no supporter of Obama, nonetheless concedes that he believes God granted Obama the victory. "Do you believe that God is still in control of events in the world?" Ervin asks. "Do you believe that all authority comes from God? … If you answered yes to even one of these questions, then you must realize that God chose Obama to be the president of this great country. "Like the Israelites of old, we have grown decadent and have forgotten our Christian roots," Ervin argues. "And so, like the Israelites of old that clamored for a king to lead them, God has given us President Obama so that we can be given over to our craven desires. We have sinned against God, and it is time to take our medicine."

Now here's where we back off and start giving man the credit for choosing our leader. Not because we wanted it, but because we actually deserved it because of our country's sinful actions. God is simply giving us what we "deserve." You see, God is appointing the leader, but it's what we really want in our heart of evil hearts, so even if Obama was really to lose, God would intervene and have Obama elected. So we can blame ourselves for Obama, but absolve God of it at the same time.

It should be obvious that this kind of thinking doesn't work. The United States is not comparable to ancient Israel. Ervin compares us to the Israelites clamoring for a king, which turned out to be Saul. But 59 million people, 46% of the popular vote, 22 states didn't vote for Obama. Whatever ancient Israel did, it did almost in unison. They were a single people with a single culture that usually went one way all at once. The United States is divided into fifty different states, with people of different religions, different denominations of Christianity, different cultures, different ways of thinking and living. You can't say America "wants" a king because this country was founded to mitigate the differences in opinion that this country would always have. Read James Madison's Federalist papers.

It seems that the church is getting into the habit of presuming too much on God's actions. Sometimes the words "I don't know" can be very liberating. Did God chose Obama to be president? I don't know. If I was to say so, could I back it up definitively? No. I don't know that God has divinely appointed Obama. I tend not to think so. Why is it important? What would that knowledge gain us?