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Virtuous Liberty: A Christian Defense of Classical Liberalism and the Free Society Against Cultural Leftism and the New Right
The free society our U. S. Founders secured by God’s blessing with their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” is under withering assault today from the Left and Right. Some critics believe the Founding basis (including its indisputably Protestant distinctive) has outlived its usefulness. Others argue the nation was a botched experiment from the start. Still others simply hate and wish to destroy our common heritage, which ironically provides these ingrates the freedom to criticize it in the first place.
Globalist Marxisms have captured huge swaths of the U. S. Left and the Democratic Party. Usually this is Cultural Marxism, which sees the Founding as inherently white supremacy, heteronormativity, self-centered individualism, enslaving patriarchy, greedy capitalism, Western imperialism, and the last residue of Christian culture are entrenched, retrograde oppressions that must be overthrown to pave the way for the revolutionary, just (egalitarian) society ruled by a bureaucratic Leftist elite. The goal, as in all other Culturally Marxist societies, is to harness the state to marginalize and emasculate the family, church, and business. This is how Globalist Marxism destroys the glorious and God-glorifying American Dream. This destruction is unfolding before our eyes.
Tribalist nationalisms, on the other side, have transformed generous sectors of the American Right into a European-style, blood-and-soul conservatism the U. S. Founders were intent to abandon. Their war on economic liberty, their identity-politics collectivism, their centralizing nanny statism, their institution-destroying nihilism, their lust for a Great Leader to enforce their will (all often sprinkled with racism) poison the American Right and the Republican Party. I denote specifically some National Conservatives, the Integralists, the New Right, “Christian” Nationalists, and the Bronze Age Mindset new masculinity (the “Lost Boys of Conservatism”) — all ideas not merely “post-liberal” but also post-Christian in practice.
Two factors unite both globalist Marxisms and tribalist nationalisms, despite fierce, unbridgeable (1) a numbing, base ingratitude for the United States of America; and (2) an eagerness to employ the sledgehammer of the state to enforce their “common good” will on society.
The Center for Cultural Leadership will stand for neither, and opposes both equally. The present book is a testimony to that opposition as well as a pointer back to what made America great in the first place.
Globalist Marxisms have captured huge swaths of the U. S. Left and the Democratic Party. Usually this is Cultural Marxism, which sees the Founding as inherently white supremacy, heteronormativity, self-centered individualism, enslaving patriarchy, greedy capitalism, Western imperialism, and the last residue of Christian culture are entrenched, retrograde oppressions that must be overthrown to pave the way for the revolutionary, just (egalitarian) society ruled by a bureaucratic Leftist elite. The goal, as in all other Culturally Marxist societies, is to harness the state to marginalize and emasculate the family, church, and business. This is how Globalist Marxism destroys the glorious and God-glorifying American Dream. This destruction is unfolding before our eyes.
Tribalist nationalisms, on the other side, have transformed generous sectors of the American Right into a European-style, blood-and-soul conservatism the U. S. Founders were intent to abandon. Their war on economic liberty, their identity-politics collectivism, their centralizing nanny statism, their institution-destroying nihilism, their lust for a Great Leader to enforce their will (all often sprinkled with racism) poison the American Right and the Republican Party. I denote specifically some National Conservatives, the Integralists, the New Right, “Christian” Nationalists, and the Bronze Age Mindset new masculinity (the “Lost Boys of Conservatism”) — all ideas not merely “post-liberal” but also post-Christian in practice.
Two factors unite both globalist Marxisms and tribalist nationalisms, despite fierce, unbridgeable (1) a numbing, base ingratitude for the United States of America; and (2) an eagerness to employ the sledgehammer of the state to enforce their “common good” will on society.
The Center for Cultural Leadership will stand for neither, and opposes both equally. The present book is a testimony to that opposition as well as a pointer back to what made America great in the first place.
327 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 2, 2024
When I purchased this book, I knew that brother Sandlin was against Christian Nationalism and wanted to see what he was about. What I found was far more startling and sad than I had imagined. He (and the contributors) either do not know what time it is or they are firing at targets that don't exist. They belong to a Christianity that is dead. A Christianity that for generations has sold it's people into slavery in the name of "American Exceptionalism". A Christianity that has been driving for a long time, and got us to this place where we are at now. Their position is founded in everything but the Bible. They tell and do not show. There are some places where they have mangled scripture. But the greatest problem that shows what they're about, they dedicated this Christian book, written by Christians, to former President Ronald Reagan. Who, if you don't know, brought America and the church no-fault divorce. Christians dedicated a Christian book to an enemy of our people and worked against God. It is sad that older brothers in the faith will be left behind because they promote a Christianity is far more dangerous than the tweets of Stephen Wolfe.
December 24, 2025
As a collection of essays, I found this book to be a bit uneven. It did make some good points in its defense of classical liberalism. However, I was not persuaded on all points. To me the approach seemed more pragmatic than strictly biblical. This is what has worked, in other words. Part of me has a great deal with sympathy with this, especially when it comes to economic freedom. But the other part of me wants to be unafraid of being more biblical. Overall, I liked this book.
March 7, 2025
The best and most compelling chapter is Chapter 6: "Abraham Kuyper's Call for Sphere Sovereignty." Otherwise, this book is pretty mid.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews