Hi 4x4,
Yes, absolutely! However, that has been the nature of our national government for quite some time. But, even our constitution is not without fault in it's claims about God. It states that the founding fathers believed that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights by our Creator. It states that one of these is the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere in the Scriptures is their any inference, that I'm aware of, that God has endowed us with such a right. We can have peace, but even that peace isn't something that we get from living in this world. Rather it is a peace that comes from trusting that our God will see to it that everything will be taken care of in its time and that, for those who love God, peace that our eternal destiny is set no matter what happens in this life.
But, the first disciples certainly didn't show that there was some pursuit of happiness to be gained from following God. Most all of the first disciples were martyred for their faith and even those who weren't were pretty much persecuted the rest of their life. Somehow I can't see one of Paul's messages to the early church being that they have some right to pursue happiness. I can't see Jesus spreading his arms wide and proclaiming, "Go and pursue your personal happiness."
So, since it's inception, while many of the people that were involved in the establishment of our nation may have been 'christian' believers, I'm not convinced that they were necessarily correct in their understanding of what God wants from an established government.
Finally, no, they aren't missing in action on our behalf. God has commanded that we respect those in authority over us because it is He who has established national governments. Nowhere do the Scriptures tie that idea of respect for those in authority over us with their having to have some godly intentions. Daniel respected the king of Babylon for his position. Jesus respected the Roman rulers over Israel and even commanded the Israelites to give unto Caesar what belongs to the Caesar. Paul always spoke with respect to Festus and other Roman rulers with whom he dealt with. This, even though everyone of these governments, as far as being particularly faithful to God, had no faithfulness or worship for the one true and living God.
So, while I certainly want to live a life that honors God, I don't think He gives us an out because we may be living under a government that doesn't likewise honor God. He tells us to respect those in authority over us without a single word being mentioned about their being some particularly righteous entity. As far as I can tell, God asks me, as an individual person who loves Him and wants to honor Him and follow His commands, to have respect for those in authority over me. He even tells me that such an attitude will make it go well with me individually. Quite frankly, when I see the rampant sin across our nation, I can understand that God may well have left us with these choices as a result of our national faithlessness.
God bless you.
In Christ, Ted