"It's not a perfect analogy, too simple, but we can start there."
That is a fairly good analogy. Now is it man's role to enforce God's will on earth? If so how does one know what God's will really is? Is it simply the bible? If so, then who do we trust as the true interpreters of God's will and how will the enforcement take place?
"I don't think kjvail was referring to the U.S., its laws, government, people, and land mass as the subjects of that authority, were you, kj?"
Perhaps this will answer both questions.
Christians are called to be the "leaven in society" and "a light unto all nations"
Properly understood the role of government in society is to provide for the common good, with an eye towards man's "last end". This is expressed most eloquently by H.H. Pope Leo XIII in IMMORTALE DEI and in DIUTURNUM among others.
If so how does one know what God's will really is?If so, then who do we trust as the true interpreters of God's will and how will the enforcement take place?
God's will for mankind has been revealed to us in the deposit of faith which consists of the written Word (scripture), the spoken Word (Sacred Tradition) and the living Magesterium (synod of Bishops in union with the Pope) of the Holy Catholic Church.The Church founded on the "rock" of Peter was guaranteed, by Christ, for all time "never to pass away", "not even the gates of Hell" would prevail against it. Christ has been good to His word, the Catholic Church has endured for 2000 years despite the worst the world and Satan himself could throw at it. In matters of faith and morality She cannot teach error.
History of Western Civilization 101
The balance of power in society has always been a delicate matter between the Church and the civil power. By the late Middle Ages (11th - 14th centuries) a stable balance existed.
Kings (Queens and Emporers) regarded themselves as father's of their people. Their authority came from God, as approved by the Church. Their actions were circumscribed by the moral teachings of the Church. The political structure was an interwoven net of oaths and allegiances solidified by tradition. It was built on the principle of subsidiarity (decentralization).
It was a truly organically developed system that grew from the ruins of the western Roman Empire.
You might study The Holy Roman Empire for an example.
The Reformation and later Enlightenment secularism and liberalism shattered all that. The balance of power shifted and state became supreme, indeed unchallanged in modern secular democracies. The result has been war and atrocity on an unprecendented scale, in the 20th century alone those states murdered 200 million of their own citizens.