ealth and rights of the powerful minority, but rather should be fundamentally based on the rights and equality of the entire population. If the current form of government doesn't properly protect and preserve these rights of liberty and equality of everyone, then that government has broken the social contract upon which the essence of political authority rested.
             "The Social Contract" examines all aspects of society based on these ideas of a social contract between the general public and the authorities and government. One of the aspects of particular interest is that of religion, a concept that has been debated over, fought over, and killed over for centuries. Rousseau examines the ideas of Christianity and develops the concept of civil religion
             By criticizing all aspects of French society, Rousseau undermines the status quo of the Old Regime. By deliberately and specifically attacking the different types of religion in Europe at the time, Rousseau not only demoralizes the church but also in so doing undermines the power position of the king as monarch. By criticizing the church and questioning the power the Catholic Church holds in respect, he in turn brings into question the ideas of divine right of kings and absolute monarchy, as they are based on the power of the church. Absolute monarchy is a term used to descried sovereign power and ultimate authority in the state resting in the hand of a king ruling under the title of "divine right". This idea is pulled from the concept that god established the monarch, and it was through the monarch that god ruled over the people of the world. With their power ordained by god a Kings power was absolute. Therefore, when Rousseau questions the validity of the Catholic Church he also questions the validity of the kings divine right.
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