holds that governments are “established by God.”58 “By me,” meaning by the biblical god, “kings reign” and “rulers rule,” says the bible.59 The Declaration of Independence is based on a different idea: that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed.” This is the very foundation of the self-government ideal and an explicit rejection of a god-given government. That rejection is embodied (and rather heavily emphasized) in the first three words of the Constitution, “We the People.” People give the government power and legitimacy, not gods.
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