{"id":146331,"date":"2026-07-07T09:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T13:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=146331"},"modified":"2026-07-07T15:35:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:35:56","slug":"pd-thomas-farr-american-apostasy-at-250","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=146331","title":{"rendered":"(PD) Thomas Farr–American Apostasy at 250\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During his 1984 trip to China, President Ronald Reagan spoke<\/a> to Chinese college students of America\u2019s commitment to the \u201cself-evident truths\u201d of its founding. Reading from the Declaration of Independence, he affirmed America\u2019s foundational moral principles: All humans are created equal, and valued equally, by God. God grants every person on earth certain inalienable rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Reagan emphasized the importance of religion in living out these truths: \u201c[Our faith is] why we wish well for others. It\u2019s why it grieves us when we hear of people who cannot live up to their full potential.\u201d Americans, he said, have even used their freedom to fight and die while protecting the freedom of others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told the students that their American peers had \u201ccommitted to memory\u201d the self-evident truths of the Declaration. His implicit message was that America\u2019s students know that human equality, freedom, and dignity are given by God and not by the state. The state\u2019s duty is to secure the inalienable rights of its citizens, especially religious freedom<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No American president could truthfully make such a statement today. Two hundred and fifty years since our nation\u2019s founding, the public conscience has begun to replace its fidelity to inalienable rights and religious freedom with a state-enforced commitment to radical human autonomy. The reasons for this authoritarian shift are not new, but its emergence in the mainstream is led by the Democratic Party and our elite educational institutions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

https:\/\/t.co\/4E3naneYGj<\/a> Two hundred and fifty years since our nation\u2019s founding, the public conscience has begun to replace its fidelity to inalienable rights and religious freedom with a state-enforced commitment to radical human autonomy.<\/p>— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) July 1, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>