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Pillar

Politics & Law

The third pillar of a decent society is a just system of politics and law. Such a government does not bind all persons, families, institutions of civil society, and actors in the marketplace to itself as subservient features of an all-pervading authority. Instead, it honors and protects the inherent equal dignity of all persons, safeguards the family as the primary school of virtue, and seeks justice through the rule of law.

Political Philology: J. R. R. Tolkien Against the Leftists 

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Public Discourse

Renouncing Fatalism: Trump and Tocqueville in Poland

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Trump did well in Poland to eschew all talk of “the wrong side of history” and instead to emphasize the real power, for good and ill, that we have over our own destiny. By doing so he defended our dignity and upheld our humanity.

Closing the Meaning Gap: Toward a Reconciliation of Communitarianism and Libertarianism

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Libertarian insights may be able to help communitarians close the meaning gap and build communities that matter.

The Urgency of Restoring the Biblical Values of America’s Founders

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Our nation was founded on biblical principles as a haven for devoutly religious dissidents. We forget our Judeo-Christian origins and the founders’ commitment to freedom of religion at our peril.

Cakes and Consciences: The Case of Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop

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The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case of Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, who declined to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding reception. There is no need to coerce artists to employ their abilities in ways contrary to their religious beliefs.

The Patriotism We Need: Principled and Spirited

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A timely book on the thought of Harry Jaffa and Walter Berns reminds us that patriotism needs to be about ideas and principles, but it cannot only be about ideas and principles. To win—and deserve to win—elections, conservatism must also inspire love of country and serve the immediate interests of the ordinary man.

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A note from the editor on our need for your support.

Paving a Playground, and Weeding the Unruly Garden of Religious Liberty

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This week’s 7-2 decision in favor of Trinity Lutheran Church goes a long way toward restoring order to the Supreme Court’s religious liberty jurisprudence.

Decrypting Jefferson

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Understanding the author of America’s Declaration of Independence is easier said than done. He may have hated big government, but big government was born of the rationalism that he loved.

John Stuart Mill’s Intolerant Faith and the Religion of Liberalism

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John Stuart Mill foreshadows the deeply intolerant faith and agenda of contemporary liberalism.

The Utopian Aspirations of the Fight Against Climate Change: A Call for Moderation

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The effort to combat climate change aspires to feats of social control, coordination, and foresight that are unprecedented in the history of politics. Our expectations for the movement ought to be tempered by our knowledge of human limitations.

Bernie’s Relativism Test Is Bad for Muslims and All Religious Believers

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Those trying to block the nomination of Russell Vought are not protecting religious pluralism but are rather demanding that all public servants be relativists.

US Soccer’s Rainbow Pride Jerseys Exclude and Divide

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Athletes should be judged on talent, heart, and work ethic—not politics. Our national sports teams should represent the whole country, not any one political niche.

Making Sense of the Founders: Politics, Natural Rights, and the Laws of Nature

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It is often alleged that the American founders lacked a unified and coherent political theory. To the contrary, a recent book by Thomas West shows that the founders broadly agreed on a philosophy of natural rights, calling for both the protection of liberty and the promotion of virtue.

Ted Cruz Is Right: The “International Community” Did Not Create the United States

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In a heated Twitter exchange with Senator Ted Cruz, Harvard professor Joyce Chaplin recently claimed that recognition by the “international community” created the United States in 1783. From an international lawyer’s standpoint, this is nonsense.

Recovering a More Complex Story of the Christian West

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Nick Spencer’s recent collection of essays reminds us to appreciate the complex relationship between Christianity and modernity.

Fountainheads of Fusionism

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The relationship between Edmund Burke and Adam Smith underscores a fundamental connection between virtue and liberty.

Stuck in a Dangerous Rut: Conservative Discourse and Islam

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If conservatives want to seriously help address issues related to Islam, the Muslim world, and encounters with the West, they need to escape their narrow information networks.

Suppose You Were an Idiot: On the Importance of Acknowledging Incompetence

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Political theory typically attributes political action to one of two main motivations: idealism or self-interest. But incompetence plays a much larger role than many assume.

What’s in a Name? Why Christians Should Be Wary of the Word “Transgender”

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The Christian worldview accepts the validity of people’s testimony that gender dysphoria is a real experience resulting in heartrending distress. The Christian worldview cannot, however, countenance the idea that men can become women or that women can become men.

A Life Well Spent: Learning from John Noonan

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With the recent passing of Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., Americans would do well to honor and remember his example of respectful engagement over fundamental moral issues.

The Genius of the Mexico City Policy and the Pro-Life Legacy of President Trump

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President Trump has an opportunity to forge a remarkable legacy as a pro-life president. To do that, he must continue to update, reinforce, and apply the principles underlying the Mexico City Policy in a way that is consistent with Ronald Reagan’s original vision.

Faith and Reason, Beauty and Holiness

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We have the obligation to propose with the apostle Paul the more excellent way. And this only intensifies as you graduate today and enter a world that is simultaneously hungry for and resistant to your message.

Kuyper and Pope Leo as Christian Thinkers

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A new book highlights the shared anthropology and social thought of Abraham Kuyper and Pope Leo XIII without glossing over their differences.

Religious Liberty and the Common Good

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To detach religious liberty from truth is to decapitate it.

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