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The marble columns of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington DC

Dobbs and the Renewal of Federalism

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We should celebrate Dobbs—but cautiously, for it is only the beginning of the project of constitutional restoration that needs to be done. If Dobbs is to stand, American society must move away from the stifling, tyrannical concentration of national power that we are experiencing now and begin a return to the balanced government of the Founders’ Constitution.

A Fascist in the White House? Federalism as an Antidote to Authoritarianism

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Any scholar or commentator who truly worries about the prospect of fascism or nationalist tyranny should favor the restoration of a more robust American federalism, with more powers exercised by the states and fewer powers assigned to the national government.

The Accessible Federalist: Historical Documents and Human Nature

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Although The Federalist is indeed a historical document that emerged from and was directed to a particular time period with particular concerns, historical sensitivity itself should also lead one to view The Federalist as something more than this. Adapted from the introduction to The Accessible Federalist.

Federal Policies on Transgender Students: Serving Neither the Community, the Family, nor the Transgender Student

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The recent “Dear Colleague” letter from the Departments of Justice and Education relies on an ideology of expressive individualism to handle issues of gender identity. It does so to the detriment of community, family, and those it intends to serve. It also eliminates one of the most basic and universally accepted forms of privacy.

Federal Courts, Government Agencies, and Transgender Bathroom Policy

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A federal court has said a student’s subjective understanding alters the meaning of an unambiguous, federal law. And it alters the meaning of the law for everyone in the Gloucester County school district and, potentially, everyone who resides in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Public Discourse

The Politics of Passion: A Lesson from The Federalist Papers

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In an era when Americans seek political leaders who display “authenticity” rather than prudence, a look back to the Federalist Papers makes clear the importance of a politics based on moderation rather than passion.
Public Discourse

Margaret Sanger’s Eugenics Heyday in the Federal Government

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On both the state and federal level, long-acting reversible contraceptives are being pushed as a means to reduce the birth rate of the poor. These initiatives will have a disproportionate impact on the childbearing of racial minorities.
Public Discourse

Federal Court Precedent: A Defense of Judge Roy Moore and the Alabama Supreme Court

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The US Supreme Court has set a precedent upholding the right of states to define marriage as the union of husband and wife. All federal and state judges—including those in Alabama—are bound by that precedent.
Constitution

Give Me That Old Time Originalism

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Originalism in Theology and Law is a welcome salvo in an ecumenical and interdisciplinary conversation that has been too long dominated by originalism’s critics.
ethics advice column

Ask Chris Tollefsen: An Ethics Advice Column

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For one thinking clearly about the issue, the incrementalist approach is not only permissible, but obligatory, a matter of justice to those unborn human beings who can, but otherwise will not, be saved.
child at doctor's office

Evidence over Ideology: Gender-Distressed Children Deserve Nothing Less

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When it comes to children’s health, ideology should never override evidence. Children who are distressed about their biological sex need evidence-based care that facilitates their journey to adulthood, keeping them mentally and physically intact.
Israel flag

What Conservatives, Catholics, and All Americans Can Learn from Israel 

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As the experience of many nations around the world shows, constitutions are easily dissolved, and constitutional order lost, when citizens allow their leaders to violate their charter to achieve partisan goals. When that happens, the delicate system of checks and balances usually gives way to an oppressive one-party rule. 
Church

Christian Institutions in a New World

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Smith's book is an excellent reminder that conservatives should never prioritize an idealized individual or nation. Rather, we must work to preserve those institutions that point us to better lives.
the US Constitution

The Constitution and Its Critics

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Rana’s history prompts us to reflect on how we ought to conceive of American identity and defend the Constitution’s anti-majoritarian checks and balances in the twenty-first century.
family

Reflections on Israel’s Exceptional Fertility

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The enduring source of the Children of Israel’s exceptional, future-oriented natalism is their intense, equally exceptional rootedness in their shared past.
all gender restroom

Load-Bearing Walls: How Denying Biological Reality Harms Us All

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Man-made positive laws should follow the laws of nature. Americans cannot bear the load of the government’s latest attempt to defy reality. And the courts should ensure that we won’t have to.
voting booth

The Bookshelf: They’re Our Parties and I’ll Cry If I Want To

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And so here we are, with hyper-partisanship and extremely weak parties, largely because earlier generations of “reformers” wanted to make them more “responsible” (read “ideological”) and more “democratic” (read “responsive to a narrow base”). It’s past time to have a conversation about reforming the reforms. More creative thinking about how to make parties again represent the great middle of the country would be most welcome.
social security

The Social Injustice of Social Security

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Unraveling a program that is deeply embedded in our politics and culture won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be attempted. The goal of relieving old-age financial hardship was a worthy one, but the policy measure enacted was a defective means to achieve it. The insolvency of Social Security may provide the emergency necessary to bring about change, if only we do not let the crisis go to waste.
Venezuelan flag

What’s Next for Venezuela? A Q&A with Angel Alvarado

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At this moment, what we can do is the right thing. And sometimes the right thing is very risky—going out into the streets and demonstrating your opinions on the situation. It's risky, but I think it’s our right, and I think it’s what is right.
gender dysphoria

The Michigan Conversion Therapy Ban Violates Human Nature and Religious Freedom

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The meaning of “conversion therapy” that Michigan law now bans does not simply place some technical limit on those who work in the mental health profession. It instead validates and mandates a harmful conception of human nature and identity that is antithetical to the convictions of countless religious professionals who faithfully serve in this space.
Republican party

Pro-Life Peril and Hope

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The GOP has always been an imperfect and unreliable vehicle for pro-life policy, and Trump’s approach will make matters much worse. Pro-lifers must be clear-eyed about the danger our movement is in, wise and unwearied in our political response, and hopeful despite the darkness of our culture.
Robert E Lee

Propriety without Principle: The Cautionary Tale of Robert E. Lee

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Robert E. Lee perhaps tried to be a gentleman, but his moral principles were weak. Therefore, when the flood of war came, he compromised with evil, then piled sin upon sin, as the rebellion’s corrupting logic swept away more and more of his moral foundations.
reading poetry

The Bookshelf: Waxing Poetic with A. M. Juster

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Our postmodern academy is never going to bring back traditional prosody on its own, so we should probably be thinking hard about how to use the Internet to bring the traditional tools of English poetry back to the people.
Oklahoma Supreme Court

Can Government Fund Religious Education?

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As the battles of religious education ramp up, one can only imagine that the Supreme Court will eventually weigh in. Which path will the Court ultimately choose? Will it endorse religious charter schools as necessary to avoid private religious discrimination, or will it reject religious charter schools as a form of religious coercion? Only time will tell.
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