When Shrugging is Not an Option
- May/June 2025
- April 30, 2025
I recently read a fascinating article1 on the forces involved in the rise and fall of nations. Author Robert D. Kaplan introduced the concept of "offensive realism," which posits that global powers attain and maintain such a status not through upholding noble democratic principles, nor through mere force. They conquer international rivals by leveraging power
READ MOREMany there be that complain of divine Providence for suffering Adam to transgress. Foolish tongues! When God gave him reason, he gave him freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing; he had been else a mere artificial Adam, such an Adam as he is in the motions. We ourselves esteem not of that obedience,
READ MOREWhere there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making. Under these fantastic terrors of sect and schism, we wrong the earnest and zealous thirst after knowledge and understanding which God hath stirred up in this
READ MOREThe South in which I grew up was rather rebellious toward the actions of the federal government. The slowness of the school systems to heed the Supreme Court’s school prayer ruling in Engel v. Vitale (1962) demonstrated that pretty clearly. I can remember daily organized prayer in school as late as 1973. I can also
READ MOREIf you asked me to name the greatest rhetoric in American history, several examples would quickly come to mind. I would surely look to the stirring words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, . . . Or just as likely I would recall
READ MOREUnlike my immediate predecessor, Roland Hegstad, who edited Liberty for 34 years, or my immediate successor, Lincoln Steed, who has been at the helm about 14 years and counting, my stint as Liberty editor was short: only seven. In that time, though, I faced a rather interesting phenomenon. Because Liberty is a church publication defending
READ MOREHistorian Steven Lawson, in his contribution to Freedom Rights (University Press of Kentucky), points out that Martin Luther King, Jr., did not create the civil rights movement but "rather, the movement thrust him into a position he did not covet. . . . That said, King's charismatic leadership gave a unique character to the movement
READ MOREAnother year; but hardly business as usual. The world ended on December 21 last year, or so they were telling us right up to the day. Those pesky Mayans—who knew that they had it so wrong about the apocalypse! Of course a certain Family Radio speaker had backdated the event to a few months earlier;
READ MORETemple University historian Gregory Urwin, in his contribution to Lincoln and Leadership (Fordham University Press), observes: "recent surveys reveal that most American historians continue to rate Abraham Lincoln as the country's best president. This subjective judgment hinges primarily on Lincoln's performance as commander in chief in the Civil War, in which he surmounted a host
READ MORE