People are obsessed with equality (or the lack thereof) these days. Outraged about inequality of income, the self-described 99 percent took to urban camping to berate the top 1 percent of income earners. In his State of the Union Address, President Obama trotted out Warren Buffett’s secretary to underscore the injustice that the rich and poor do not have an equal tax burden—supposedly, the rich have too much and pay too little. On one level, a certain concern with inequality is understandable in a nation such as ours, founded on …
“The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time,” Thomas Jefferson once wrote. “The hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.” Among the American Founders, there was a profound sense that faith and freedom were deeply intertwined. Nowadays, we are often told that religion is divisive and ought to kept away from politics for the sake of liberty. Religion somehow is opposed to liberty, and so liberty requires a diminution of religion in the public square. The view long consistent with our historical practice, …
Silly Brits. After all these years, they still don’t understand natural rights. During a moot debate last week at Franklin Hall in Philadelphia, British lawyers argued that the 1776 American Declaration of Independence was not only illegal, but actually treasonable. “There is no legal principle then or now to allow a group of citizens to establish their own laws because they want to,” the British barristers maintained. Well, of course seceding from Great Britain and renouncing allegiance to King George III was both illegal and treasonable by British legal standards. …
Ronald Reagan communicated timeless truths about America— truths about freedom, limited government, hard work and opportunity—and these truths guided him while he was in office. A thinker and avid reader of history, Reagan was guided by the first principles of the American founding, especially the idea of ordered liberty in our nation’s charter—our enduring Constitution. In the opening paragraphs of his first inaugural address in 1981—much of which he personally drafted—President Reagan echoed the preamble of the Constitution, calling on “We the people” to do whatever needs to be done …
Across the country, lawmakers are working to limit illegal immigration and reform policy so that more individuals can honorably and legally become American citizens. Last year’s notorious immigration battle in Arizona was met with hostility from pro-illegal immigration forces who misunderstood the Founders’ intent for a legal and meaningful naturalization process into America. Now, the same kind of battle is heating up in Alabama. With an estimated 120,000 illegal immigrants (according to the Pew Hispanic Center), Alabama leaders felt the federal laws weren’t protecting the state adequately. Considering the population …
London today celebrated Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday and his role in bringing down the Iron Curtain with the unveiling of a 10-foot bronze statue of the former President at the U.S. Embassy in England. British Foreign Secretary William Hague and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke at the event, which drew a crowd of 2,000. Reagan’s statue will stand alongside those of former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The tribute is one of many commemorations of Reagan’s legacy held across Europe over the past week.
America was born on July 4, 1776, with the passage of the Declaration of Independence. Today, as we celebrate our great country 235 years later, we reflect upon its meaning. The Declaration announced to the world that the American colonies were free and independent states. But this alone does not make the document or America revolutionary. What is revolutionary about the Declaration is not that a particular group of Americans declared their independence under particular circumstances but that they did so by appealing to a universal standard of justice: equality. …
“The principles of our republic must be protected vigilantly at home and defended fearlessly abroad,” Heritage President Edwin J. Feulner states in a special message for Independence Day in this week’s Heritage in Focus podcast. “Read the Declaration of Independence,” Heritage scholar David Azerrad urges. “It’s the philosophical soul of America.” In this week’s Heritage in Focus, Dr. Feulner wishes you a Happy Independence Day. Then, the Assistant Director of the Center for Principles and Politics, David Azerrad, explains why we celebrate Independence Day on the fourth of July rather …
We celebrate America’s birth on July 4. Why? It was July 2 that the Continental Congress resolved, “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.” Shouldn’t that day, as John Adams predicted, “be the most memorable epoch in the history of America”? No. On July 2 we effected our political separation. On July 4 we declared to the world the principles our nation is built upon – a creed that applies to all men and all times. Happy Independence Day! Thomas Sanford is …
The signing of the Declaration of Independence was a glorious day for our country’s history. With a stroke of a pen, our founders sealed an enduring document representing the triumph of liberty over tyranny. And yet, centuries after this, one of the most important events in our country’s history, it’s easy to gloss over the Fourth of July as just another holiday. To appreciate why our independence from the British crown is not only a cause worth celebrating, but also defending, we must remember what our founding fathers fought and …
