"Yeah, that's what we need - a theoracracy. It works so well in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Maybe we should derive our basis of law from those "Godly" plastic-haired, snakefondling moneygrubbers on TV, huh?"
Let's get a little perspective on the Law.
To understand the Constitution and this government of laws, it is important that we realize that the founders saw that because the rights they were seeking to protect were God- given, Creator- endowed rights, they would not be able to be sustained in society unless they were protected under a code of law which was itself in harmony with the Creator's law. They called this higher law, "natural law" or the "laws of nature."
James Madison, known as the major framer of the American Constitution, and one of its brilliant defenders, identified the leading principle for the success of the first form of a Republican government: "We have stacked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self- government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God"
It is clear that the Law we talk about is divined as coming from God.
"upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God"
Notice those words, "govern ourselves"? and "sustain ourselves"? and "upon the CAPACITY" He was not saying the 10 commandments were the law of the land and had to be enforced on us by the state.
And more.......
William Blackstone defined the Law of Nature as "the will of the Creator ... such among others are these principles: that we should live honestly, should hurt nobody, and should render to everyone his due ..." Samuel Adams called the first law of nature "self-preservation," and states that, "no one ought to harm another in their life, liberty, and property. Every man as much as he is able ought to preserve the rest of mankind."