The Catholic Church against the Modern State

Ryan McMaken of LRC describes the modern state as the ultimate instrument of human degradation and the Catholic response to its vile nature:

"The State does not possess its coercive power by magic, but by the consent and support of human beings who have given up on the individual and on God, and have turned to the State for security and salvation. In John Paul II and in Benedict XVI, however, we find critics of an institution they view as profoundly opposed to the ancient institutions of society which Christian civilization has long been founded upon. But, while their critiques of the State are eloquent, we must also know the objective measure of value in human society. If not the State, what? The objective measure is the individual person."

So the proper question remains, are we to be ruled by God or by men?