Yet almost nobody today talks as if the State is a divine servant, is accountable to God, or exercises divine authority in its governance. There is a reason for that, a back story that has led to suspicion about anyone claiming to have divine sponsorship, to have ‘God on our side’ and a monopoly on the divine legitimacy. Whether or not we have experienced it for ourselves, we all fear the kind of theocracy in which certain humans are regarded, even if only by themselves, as infallible mouthpieces of the divine will.
