Christian Commentary on Faith, Family & Freedom

A free society depends upon more than constitutional limits and the protection of individual rights. It also depends upon citizens who willingly accept responsibility for themselves and one another. In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville observed the remarkable tendency of Americans to form voluntary associations, working together to establish institutions, address community needs, and accomplish what individuals could not easily accomplish alone. These habits of coo

Americans frequently debate how much power government should possess. But the deeper question is not simply whether government has become too powerful. It is whether we are willing to respect the limits of government when those limits prevent us from accomplishing something we personally desire. In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel demanded a king who would provide security and stability. Samuel warned them that the authority they requested would eventually make demands upon

Americans have more opportunities than ever to express opinions about their country. We watch, post, share, argue, criticize, and react. But having an opinion about the republic is not the same thing as taking responsibility for it. The Founding generation understood that republican government required something from the people themselves. John Adams insisted that public virtue depended upon private virtue, while George Washington described the American experiment in republi