"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.
You assert fact A and then fact B and suppose causation. The 19th and 20th centuries saw war and atrocity on an unprecedented scale because our weapons got better, not because we got worse. The Roman church has perpetrated quite a few of its own atrocities and on a fairly large scale for the times...perhaps the capacity to sin lies equally in all of us?
Thanks for the history, kjvail. Can you give me a simple 'yes' or 'no' to my question? Thank you.