Virtue

“it is possible to link a theory of natural moral law with a political theory of basic, negative, natural rights—that is, the individual rights to life, liberty, and property.” - Law & Liberty

“To understand what I mean, let’s refer back to one of my favorite passages in scripture—Micah 6:8…. simple to understand yet tough to execute: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”” (So why is our political culture so toxic?) - David French

Adams’ warned that our level of freedom depends on a high level of self-restraint by the citizens. French: “The response to John Adams’s warning is not to arm the government with more power but to equip citizens with more virtue. And how do we do that?” - David French

“Right now America is in a permissive mood that is legalizing controlled substances, legitimizing prostitution as ‘sex work,’ embracing gambling as economic stimulant, and accepting pornography as harmless pastime. This permissiveness will run its course, until its excesses will provoke a new more restrictive era. Social Puritanism may recede for a season but it never disappears.

“Jesus teaches us not only what is right and true, but also how to display the beauty of the truth in our words, posture, and deeds. He models how to live righteously and love compassionately alongside how to think deeply.” - Dustin Crowe

“When trust fails, the virtuous circle turns vicious, and then the state has to find other ways to encourage or compel cooperation in order to function….

“America’s founding documents presuppose that a limited government depends on a free and virtuous society. ‘Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports,’ said George Washington in his Farewell Address.” - Acton

“Virtue politics, following the ancient Greek philosophers, assumed that hierarchies would always exist in society, so that a principal task of politics was to ensure that those hierarchies would be just ones, based on real distinctions of merit between rulers and ruled.” - The Public Discourse

“What Barr describes is a long-term shift from an understanding that a robust civil society, including religious institutions, could promote healthy norms such as sobriety and self-discipline to a belief that government could be relied upon for rehabilitation, the term emphasized by the Kennedy administration when it first authorized federal grants for social services.” - National Review