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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.

Social Contract Theory in the Ruins?

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Public Discourse

Traditional Family Law: Connecting Marriage with Children

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The Supreme Court was more right than it knew during the past two centuries as it identified the state’s interest in marriage as children and their formation. The first in a two-part series.
Public Discourse

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.
Public Discourse

The Most Controversial Decision: Challenging Pro-Life Witness

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The tradition of common morality does not permit us to excuse the atomic bomb as a “necessary” evil.
Public Discourse

The Authority to Kill

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If one doubts America’s high authority to undertake war for the sake of ideals, one must also question its high authority to administer the death penalty.
Public Discourse

Sexual Abuse and Moral Indifference

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The recent scandal at Penn State has brought to light more than just sexual abuse and its cover-up; it has exposed the indifference that cultural norms have groomed in some of our young adults.
Public Discourse

Can America Overcome Race?

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In Randall Kennedy’s new book on the dimensions of race in American politics, Kennedy abandons his usual level-headed analysis for a partisan, and misguided, look at American progressivism and conservatism.
Public Discourse

Child Sexual Abuse and the Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court has helped to foster a culture that encourages the sexual exploitation of children.
Public Discourse

Mandating Our Religious Freedom

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People of faith must reclaim their religious freedom, granted by the Creator and protected by the Constitution.
Public Discourse

Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Government Worker

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The conditions that inspired "The Scarlet Letter" highlight the gap between public employment and civic motives.
Public Discourse

Being Human in an Age of Unbelief

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Four points in defense of human dignity. Adapted from an address delivered last night at the University of Pennsylvania.
Public Discourse

Terms of Moral Intervention: The Perils of Power and Profit

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Where unjust political regimes have been destroyed, a power vacuum enables corruption and undermines the state’s security. To prevent corrupting forces from abusing the state’s vulnerability in its transition period, intervening powers should enable strong law enforcement systems.
Public Discourse

The Westboro Problem: Free Speech, Public Decency, and Constitutional Doctrine

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A recent appellate court ruling in favor of a Westboro Baptist protester shows the decline of judicial ability to protect decency standards for public discourse.
Public Discourse

Human Development and Human Flourishing: Creating Capabilities Isn’t Enough

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Rawlsian “public reason” approaches to human capabilities are insufficient bases for social justice.
Public Discourse

Private Property and Human Flourishing

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Private property should be preserved and protected because of its deep contribution to human well-being.
Public Discourse

It’s a Girl

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The Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence appears to protect a right to abortion even for reasons of sex selection. Yet this gruesome reality might provide an opening for a frontal assault on the premises of Roe v. Wade.
Public Discourse

Sold for Sex: The Link Between Street Gangs and Human Trafficking

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In order to curtail human sex trafficking successfully, we must take seriously that street gangs are a large part of the problem.
Public Discourse

Religious Liberty and the Ministerial Exception

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An upcoming Supreme Court decision might give government, rather than religious organizations, the final say on who counts as a religious minister.
Public Discourse

Go to Jail and Get a Seminary Education?

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Religious conversions can be pivotal in turning an inmate away from a life of crime, but only if the process of spiritual transformation continues outside the prison walls.
Public Discourse

Reflections of a Questioner: The Palmetto Freedom Forum Revisited

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The Judiciary doesn’t have the final word on the meaning of the Constitution, and Congress could step in to protect the 14th Amendment rights of the unborn.
Public Discourse

Conscience, Coercion, and Healthcare

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A recent rule issued by the Obama administration threatens our nation’s healthcare by attacking the consciences of our nation’s healthcare providers.
Public Discourse

Preventing Another Attack: International Religious Freedom

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The advancement of international religious freedom is crucial for terrorism’s defeat.
Public Discourse

Declaration of War: Ten Years Later

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Under the Constitution, the Constitution prevails over international law. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), signed into law ten years ago this week, prescribed no time limitation or geographical limitation. It was, potentially, a world war of unlimited duration. And yet, our involvement in Libya is unconstitutional.
Public Discourse

Locke, Metaphysics, and the Challenge of America

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John Locke is a deep cultural well from which we still can draw good water.
Public Discourse

Global Warming, Evolution, and Presidential Politics: The Long Shadow of Galileo

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Judging from the media’s response to Rick Perry’s Galileo reference in the Reagan debate, our discourse is still governed by the modern view that science and religion can only clash.
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