Political Philosophy

“Among Deneen’s more outlandish proposals is the suggestion that the separation of Church and State be abolished. Pointing to rising ‘deaths of despair,’ Deneen insists that it is not enough to ‘ensure [the people’s] freedom to pursue’ essential goods of human life, such as religious faith.” - Juicy Ecumenism

“Far from the author of rabid secularism or deconstructive individualism, Locke, influenced by Shaftesbury, was an agent of ordered liberty. He … articulated an alternative statecraft defending and expanding English freedoms in politics and religion.” - Providence

“It’s more complicated than you think. A new book takes a detailed look at all the factions, competing definitions, and enormous resources that the libertarian movement brings to discussions of a free market and a free people.” - Acton

“Without question, modern liberalism is a target-rich environment. But so is the integralists’ alternative. Ultimately, it is their human anthropology that is false, and heretical—borrowing from, yet at the same time masking or distorting, Christian doctrine” - Law & Liberty

“In the current ‘post-liberal’ moment, there’s a new Christian authoritarian chic. Recent examples include a conservative Christian finding virtue with East German communism, and another extolling a ‘Protestant’ Francisco Franco for America.” - Providence

“Deneen calls for ‘a new elite … dedicated to the promotion and construction of a society that assists ordinary fellow citizens in achieving lives of flourishing.’ The result is a regime that is ‘left-economic and social-conservative.’” - Public Discourse

“The ideas of liberty and individual dignity cannot be ascribed exclusively to Christianity—or for that matter to any other religion—as they are inherent in human nature. In short, they are what it means to be human.” - Acton

“Underlying many debates about how courts and policies treat religion… Is any human right – religious freedom in particular – more important than another? And what happens when human rights claims come into conflict?” - The Conversation

“The challenge that confronts Christian political theology today is how to guard against the abusive tendencies of fallen human authority figures while not destroying authority itself; how to acknowledge that nature is fallen, while remembering that nature was created good.” - Providence

“While the concerns animating National Conservatism are real, its reduction of today’s problems and tomorrow’s solutions to issues of nationality, if stubbornly held, will lead to stalemate and irrelevance.” - Acton