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Russell Nieli

Russell Nieli

Russell K. Nieli is a lecturer in the Department of Politics and the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

Challenging Unjust Laws Takes Prudence, Courage, and Common Sense

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In the real world, human goods are often in conflict with one another. This reality forces us to make difficult choices and trade-offs that cannot be eliminated or adjudicated by following simple rules.

Gay Weddings and the Shopkeeper’s Dilemma

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One option for pro-marriage business owners: obey the law and serve gay weddings, but make it known publicly that you believe that the law forcing you to do this is unjust, needs to be changed, and is obeyed only out of your respect for law and the democratic process.

The Santa Barbara Killings: When Envy Becomes the Deadliest Sin

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The writings and videos of mass murderer Eliot Rodger reveal a young man eaten up by envy and demonstrate the reality of evil.

Covetous Envy: The Forgotten Deadly Sin

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Modern rhetoric of income inequality is driven by covetous envy that betrays America’s tradition of applauding those who succeed. Caritas, humility, gratitude, and goodwill toward others are a healthy society’s answer to the ancient curses of envy and pride.

Bringing Marx into the Abortion Debate

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Two points can best persuade young people about abortion: our need for laws that protect the weak and vulnerable and the deadening of conscience that often accompanies pro-choice sentiment.

Absentee Fathers and the Newtown School Shooting

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Any honest analysis of the Newtown tragedy must address the social problems caused by divorce, absent fathers, and the burdens of single motherhood.

Religion: Moving Beyond Emile Durkheim

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For Emile Durkheim, God and religion were nothing more than the idols of the tribe and the tribe's own self-worship; why do so many Western intellectuals take this as the last word on the subject? The second in a two-part series.

Religion as a Community-Bonding Fiction

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Although religion and God-belief are in some sense an illusion for Jonathan Haidt, they are seen as an often salutary fiction insofar as they help people to overcome their self-centeredness and direct their efforts to a greater collective good. The first in a two-part series.

Interpreting the Establishment Clause (without an Agenda)

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Judges and legal scholars rarely agree on what was the original meaning, understanding, or intent behind the Establishment Clause. Donald Drakeman’s book Church, State, and Original Intent critiques current views and offers a new approach.

Against Divorce: David Hume Defends Traditional Marriage

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Learning from a religious skeptic’s rejection of polygamy and easy divorce.
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