Where Are We Headed? 

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Where is the country of Franklin, Adams and Jefferson going? Article by Mark Mitchell, college dean: 

     "Classical liberalism is a remarkable marriage of man and law: rule of law, separation of powers, federalism, respect for private property and freedom of speech. 

     "Shaped by centuries of Christian thinking, the result was freedom, self-restraint and self-government. The constitution, separation of powers and the rule of law supported political liberty. There are two fundamental questions: What is a human? What is law?

     "At our founding, the answers were in Christian consensus. A human inherited dignity and natural rights. Law was a fixed moral order. Tocqueville understood that laws, a constitution alone, will not maintain a free society. Answers to these two questions are shifting. Many doubt that humans have inherent dignity. Rather than law as a fixed moral order, law reflects what is expedient or what the majority desires. 

     "Many understand human nature and law in ways that would be foreign to early Americans. Humans are seen as free agents with no essential nature, and we have no obligation to live according to a created order. The strongest desires will prevail. 

     "Morality is reduced to personal preference; identity is merely a matter of choice, and law is a competition for the power to define reality."  

                           Tomorrow: Squandering our blessing?