Here it is, in a nutshell. The state is either under authority or it is not. If the state is not under authority, it has no authority — only power. That means that prudence might dictate doing what they say, but conscience never could. So the only way conscience can direct the citizenry to obey the state’s authority is if the state itself is under authority. No created entity has authority unless that created entity is under authority. But if the state is under authority, this means the state is under limits.
Being under limited authority means that it is possible to know the nature and extent of those limits. If they go past those limits, everybody knows about it.
If there is no God above the state, the state has no authority. If there is a God above the state, then the state has no authority outside the limits that have been set for it. And in either case, there is no reason grounded in conscience for putting up with legalized plunder.