Another scholarly post—as always!
I am sure that you are familiar with the document below, but perhaps some here are not. I just discovered it in recent years, and believe it to be excellent:
The Proper Role of Government, by The Honorable Ezra Taft Benson
From your link:
The great Thomas Jefferson asked:
"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" (Works 8:404; P.P.N.S., p.141)