Most people, at some point, feel something on the inside, that gives them a desire to believe that who and what they really are, is something beyond just their physical form. Societies understand this need, and creeds, religions, and faith-based services in communities and countries have been built specifically to fulfill those desires of the people and often embrace such, for the proposed betterment of the people. Even, in those communities and countries, in which God has been eradicated, via law, or through ignorance, people, still have that inkling.
The thing about communities and countries, is that those that are in power, often desire to control and manipulate their population, in order to maintain their position, authority, and status; because those that are in power, are the beneficiaries of all sorts of wonderful material things, properties, privileges, and are the recipients of overall favoritism, in which, anything that purports to show that mankind is inherently equal, and that all are equal in the eyes of God, are not necessarily the type of things that these privileged elites desire to have preached or proselytized.
This therefore is one of the most significant reasons why the Bible was in previous ages, not translated into the vernacular of the people, but remained instead in Latin, Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew, of which, most people were not familiar with those languages, and therefore would not be able to read or to comprehend the Bible, if they even saw such in print, and further, were placed into the position of thereby learning what wisdom that the Bible presented via those that disseminated such, which in most cases, were orthodox representatives of the governmental power.
So then, when William Tyndale, for instance, translated the Latin version of the Bible into English, for the English speaking people of England, such was seen as something akin to heresy or treason to the state. This meant that for Tyndale, his dedicated work in creating this seminal translation, would not mean that he would be knighted, but rather instead, he would be eventually tortured and executed by the state, for his unauthorized translation of the Bible; for the King of England, and the Roman Catholic clergy, would not countenance any potential breach in their control of the Word of God.
Yet, it was Tyndale's translation of the Bible into English that ultimately prevailed, for the very act of suppression of that which the people desired to know of, could not now be stopped and thereby would subsequently overturn the religious authority of that day, for the contradictions between Catholic clergy of that time, and the Word of God, demonstrated in principle that the Word of God, as taught and exercised by those authorities, was not consistent with the actual Word of God.
This thus signifies, that any governing authority that is master both of the secular as well as the spiritual, is the type of authority, that desires to control the whole person, and in all probability, not for their betterment, but rather in order to exploit and to manipulate them. So that, an educated public, a public that questions authority, a public that recognizes a Higher Law that all most equally answer to, and a public that thinks independently, are the very basis for a good life, fair liberty, and the lively pursuit of happiness.