The Virtue of Banning Vice

In early America, most citizens agreed that government had a role in curbing immorality. Local authorities routinely passed laws against lying, gambling, fornication, and blasphemy, and for the most part, there was little opposition. Americans of that era shared a moral framework that shaped their expectations for public life and public law.

How times have changed. Writing for National Affairs, Charles Fain Lehman documents the dramatic expansion of vice in modern America. He rolls through a list of staggering statistics. More than 60 million Americans smoked marijuana in 2023. Half of U.S. men have sports-betting accounts. Salaries from OnlyFans outpace those of the NBA.

Lehman notes that many have responded by supporting policies that restrict minors’ access to pornography, limit sports gambling, or make drug use more difficult. Yet opposition still persists on the grounds of “tolerance.” As Lehman puts it, many argue these vices are “victimless” and therefore should not be subject to legal constraint.

Lehman disagrees. He views addictions to pornography, gambling, and recreational drugs as destructive to the health of a free nation. As he writes, “Much as education is necessary for the formation of responsible citizens, so too is restraint of vice necessary.”

Read more of Lehman’s article here.

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Against Nihilism

The so-called culture war between left and right has dominated news cycles and political messaging. Debates over gender identity, gun control, and the role of religion in public life have turned Americans into online combatants and strained countless families.

John Seel and Lee Byberg, writing in Aaron Renn’s Substack, argue that these conflicts stem from a deeper crisis: nihilism. Seel and Byberg argue that Americans of all ideologies have lost their sense of meaning and any shared social order. Without these anchors, it’s not surprising to the authors that violence in our nation has increased and that our grasp on reality has weakened.

Seel and Byberg point to three pillars of a healthy society: authority, plausibility, and ritual. But in contemporary America, they say, all three have eroded. The authors still have hope, though. They believe that the Christian narrative and the story of God’s work in the world can re-center people around divine truth. The authors urge churches to focus on defining reality rather than focusing solely on individual change, and they call for new leaders to guide people toward community-oriented lives and habits.

Read more of Seel and Byberg’s arguments here.

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Compendium

Every article we feature here is available to read for free. Articles from paywalled publications are available through gift links.

1. Daniel McCarthy, ISI’s Director of Publications, on Tim Walz’s decline in Chronicles Magazine.

2. William Horton on higher education’s neglect of intellectual pluralism in favor of social justice in Voegelin View.

3. Bradley Birzer on the latest edition of Robert Nisbet’s The Social Philosophers in Law and Liberty.

4. Alexander Raikin on the systemic devaluation of disabled infants in First Things.

5. Steven F. Hayward on the similarities between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump in Civitas Outlook.

6. Natalie Carnes on the tension between beauty and idolatry in Plough Magazine.

7. On the enduring relevance of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America in The Culturist.

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This week, from the Collegiate Network:

ISI’s Collegiate Network supports over 80 student-run publications across the country, empowering students to run independent college newspapers, magazines, and journals that report on important issues ignored by the mainstream media.

• Behold the Virgin Daughter of Her Son: Marian Humility in the Divine Comedy via The Brownson Record

  A reflection on Mary’s perfect humility as expressed most fully in her fiat and illuminated through Dante’s Divine Comedy.

• The U.S. Reclamation of the Western Hemisphere? via The Wisconsin Standard

  Insight into Trump’s strategic reassertion of American influence in the Western Hemisphere (per the Monroe Doctrine) and his move to secure Venezuela’s oil and counter geopolitical rivals.

• And Miles to Go Before I Sleep via Cogitare Magazine

  This piece compares Christmas to Robert Frost’s reminder of “miles to go,” calling Christians to move forward with renewed purpose.

• Resurrecting Culture Through Clothing via The New Guard Press

  An argument that the decline of traditional dress in the modern West reflects a broader cultural decay, and that restoring classical attire would strengthen personal identity.

Visit our Student Journalism section to read more from the Collegiate Network.

Religious Freedom in Revolutionary France

The relationship between church and state throughout Western history has always been complicated. This was especially true in the nations of medieval Christendom, where many monarchs and clergy competed for political power, leaving ordinary people caught in the middle. Because of this mix of political influence and moral absolutism, some people view Christianity as an authoritarian religion with little room for liberty.

In this week’s Modern Age article, Jennifer Conner challenges that assumption. Conner discusses Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, a nineteenth-century French Catholic who wrote about the relationship between the Church and religious freedom. Lacordaire, in the pages of a publication called L’Avenir, urged the French government to stop meddling in church affairs and championed the right of families to raise their children without government interference.

Conner clarifies that Lacordaire did not embrace the radical liberalism of the French revolutionaries. He simply argued that ordinary citizens were entitled to basic rights, inviting those around him “into the full truth of Christian liberty.” Conner suggests Lacordaire’s example offers a helpful bridge between our American tradition and certain strands of religious orthodoxy.

Read the rest of Conner’s article here on the Modern Age website.

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Modern Age is ISI’s flagship publication. Visit modernagejournal.com and subscribe to receive a free daily newsletter.

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