[Leaning Right]

I believe the Chinese “Mandate from Heaven” concept did have it roots in religious belief. If there was a destructive flood in China, that was evidence that heaven was unhappy with the current emperor. The emperor lost his Mandate from Heaven, and could be deposed.

But today the phrase can have a more generic meaning, and no longer must refer to heavenly activity. It’s more like “I’ve got this power, and I deserve to have this power.”

[Bob434]

Yeah probably. I don’t think China is even too nice toward the Chinese religion s either. They have everyone under their thumb

[Ancesthntr]

It’s more like “I’ve got this power, and I deserve to have this power.”

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It’s just a recycled version of the old “Divine Right of Kings” that has been used for thousands of years to justify ANYTHING that the King (or his string-pullers) have done or wish to do. IOW, it’s “Me me me me me” at everyone else’s expense.

People like that may rule for a few years, even a few decades, but they soon end up hanging from a noose or being put up against a wall. The Kim dynasty in Korea is an exception to this rule in the modern era...but I think that even that will end within a few years.