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Public Discourse

The Illusion of Neutrality

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The secular state cannot be neutral in matters of religion.
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What Reason Can Know and What Government Should Legislate: A Rejoinder to Arkes

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The existence of objective moral truth that is knowable by reason does not imply that people generally, much less particular public officials, will in fact know and embrace that truth. Very often, they won’t, and that is why systematic limits on government power, such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, are good laws.
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Judging Beliefs and Shaping Laws: A Reply to Robert Miller

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Legislators and judges not only can but must gauge the moral justification of every law.
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Professor Arkes and the Law

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When the law limits the courts’ power to inquire into the truth or reasonableness of religious views, this is not because the law is assuming that religious beliefs lack rational foundation. Rather, it’s because allowing courts to exercise this power on a large scale would be too dangerous.
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Obamacare: Text and Intention

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Confronted with its legislative weaknesses, defenders of Obamacare are appealing to the law’s intent instead of its text. This is a dangerous approach that the founders clearly rejected.
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The Blessings of Liberty and the Index of Culture and Opportunity

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Opportunity is not merely the absence of artificially imposed impediments. It is also the capacity to pursue happiness, individually and in community. Adapted from the 2014 Index of Culture and Opportunity.
Public Discourse

The Right to Be Wrong

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The right to religious freedom is for everyone, not just those with the “right” beliefs.
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A Perpetual Haven: Why the Religious Freedom Restoration Act Matters

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Respect for religious conscience is not an afterthought or luxury, but the very essence of the American political and social compact. Adapted from testimony presented before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
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How the United States Government Lost Its Liberalism

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Through executive orders and judicial overreach, American government has eroded the separation of powers and lost its commitment to liberal ideals. The second in a two-part series.
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What Can a Modern Philosopher Teach Us About Natural Law?

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As a philosopher, Locke was both historically great and uniquely ambivalent. This combination provides extraordinarily fertile ground for uniting modern and pre-modern insights that seem opposed.
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Why Liberty Isn’t Enough

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It’s important to talk about liberty, but not in isolation. Our language should reflect the truth that reason, justice, equality, and virtue make freedom possible.
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Time for a Return of Fusionism

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Conservatives and libertarians must rediscover the things that bind them together. A return to Frank Meyer’s philosophy of “fusionism” could provide a roadmap to unity.
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Conservatives and the Constitution

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Conservatives must resist the temptation toward “big-government conservatism.” Easy acceptance of extra-constitutional federal powers betrays the philosophical roots of the conservative movement.
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A Modest Balanced Budget Proposal

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Constitutional amendments requiring Congress to pass a balanced budget are unrealistic and doomed to fail. It would be more effective to combat deficit spending by requiring the president to submit a balanced budget.
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Thanksgiving and the Constitution

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Strict separation of church and state would require us to throw out Thanksgiving as a religious holiday proclaimed by the president. Instead, we should embrace Thanksgiving and throw out strict separationism as a misguided interpretation of the Constitution.
Public Discourse

America’s Moderate Liberalism: Rediscovering Montesquieu, Recovering Balance

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The French philosopher Montesquieu’s principle of moderation taught the founders to reconcile Lockean liberalism, classical republicanism, and Christianity—a balance we could use today.
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Conservatism and Freedom

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Conservatives need to refine their understanding and presentation of the moral substance of their cause, crafting a message that appeals to both reason and imagination.
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An Orwellian Warning for Conservatives

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Supporting crony capitalism weakens the appeal of social conservatism; it is difficult to hold the moral high ground on abortion and marriage while defending exploiters of the poor and oppressed.
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Internet Pornography & the First Amendment

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Current jurisprudence protecting pornography as “artistic expression” contradicts the Founders’ understanding and the underlying purposes of the First Amendment’s protection of speech, and it fails to protect Americans from the social and personal trauma caused by pornography. The second in a two-part series.
Public Discourse

The Pragmatic Eudaimonist: A Response to David Tubbs

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David L. Tubbs’ criticism of pragmatic liberalism reveals that he misunderstands both the necessary complexity of constitutional law and its relation to civil society.
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The Perils of Liberal Moralism: On Syria and Thomas More

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Our president’s assumption that he should punish Syria for a moral, but not legal, transgression undermines international law.
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America’s Declining Commitment to Self-Government

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The president and Congressional supporters of attacking Syria suggest by their actions a strong disregard for public opinion and self-government.
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The “Mystery of Life” Makes Law a Mystery

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Since our culture has embraced Justice Kennedy’s “mystery of life” philosophy, we lack a coherent framework for making laws that don’t just cater to personal preferences.
Public Discourse

A Lincoln for Our Times

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In his new book on Abraham Lincoln, Rich Lowry depicts our famous president as a lover of freedom, commerce, and progress whom we revere on the same plane as the founders because he, like them, articulated enduring principles that we still value.
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