Alan Sears's Townhall.com Column

The Play’s the Thing

2013-04-26T10:42:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
The things we never outgrow. “All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare said, “and all the men and women merely players.” A surprising number of us have stage fright.

The Quarrel With Morals

2013-02-22T00:01:00-05:00

Alan Sears Column
The ultimate objective of the law is to establish the moral code of a community. There’s really no other reason to go to all the trouble of creating a law in the first place if not to ingrain in the minds of a people the idea that certain things are right or wrong.

Silent Knights

2013-01-22T00:01:00-05:00

Alan Sears Column
At the end of Camelot, a despondent King Arthur, on the eve of a terrible battle he is loathe to fight, encounters a cheerful young boy bent on joining his majesty’s forces for the fray.

France Trades Free Speech for a Genderless Society

2013-01-05T00:01:00-05:00

Alan Sears Column
When a society’s laws recognizing marriage as the union of one man and one woman are changed to honor the unions of same-sex couples, it’s not just the law that changes—it’s also the society itself that changes. A top-down metamorphosis begins in which every aspect of public law changes to match the new definition of marriage.

Honoring Judge Robert H. Bork

2012-12-19T12:37:00-05:00

Alan Sears Column
In October 2010, the Alliance Defending Freedom was privileged to recognize Judge Robert H. Bork with the “Edwin Meese III Award for Originalism and Religious Liberty.” At that time, we described him as, “one of the greatest legal minds in American history, and a person who has made an indelible impact on our nation, on its legal culture, and on the minds and hearts of many of its finest judges, law professors, students, and attorneys.”

Why the Battle for Family Must Go On

2012-11-28T00:01:00-05:00

Alan Sears Column
In the wake of the U.S. elections, the onslaught of war in the Middle East, and the seemingly endless attacks on the family both here and abroad, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. And if we’re not careful, it’s then easy to adopt of posture of indifference and give up the fight.

A Scary Thought

2012-10-31T00:01:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
Sometimes, I wonder if Halloween is supplanting the Fourth of July as our national holiday.

Lots Of Children, But No Fathers Or Mothers

2012-10-10T00:01:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
France plans to ban the words “mother” and “father” in legal language concerning marriage in that country. The goal is to further communicate the message that “marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender.” But the result is certain to be more children without mothers or without fathers in the home.

U.S. Government Choosing its Religion?

2012-09-28T00:01:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
An intrinsic tension exists between religious freedom and the machinations of government. This is largely because neither men nor the governments men form are wholly free from evil. Thus James Madison’s timeless statement in Federalist 51: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

America at a Precipice, Freedom at Risk

2012-09-22T00:01:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
America stands at a precipice. Never before have so many of our fundamental, God-given freedoms hung by so thin a thread here at home as they do now.

9/11 and a Shining City

2012-09-11T00:01:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
On September 11, 2001, Americans were reminded of two things—the dangers of terrorism and the greatness of the United States.

Pictures of life

2012-07-18T12:08:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
Recently, I was going through an old box and found a picture of my father. As I held it in my hands, I remembered his life, and it was amazing how many emotions the picture communicated. I continued through other boxes, finding more and more photographs, and was struck again by the fact that, in every instance, I was looking at pictures of life. Then it dawned on me--

The Fight for Life Encompasses the Beginning and the End

2012-07-12T15:51:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
In nations where socialized medicine has been in force for some time, the elderly and infirm are being sacrificed (killed) for the comfort of the young and healthy. And with the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold socialized medicine in America via ObamaCare, there is justifiable concern that the elderly and infirm may eventually face the same fate here in America.

Like Gold, Marriage is the Genuine Article

2012-06-26T14:35:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
Gold is valuable because of its singularity and its scarcity. It is singular in that it is gold and there’s nothing like it, and of course it’s scarce because of where it’s located and the struggles that must be undertaken to reach it. Because of these factors, we buy gold bracelets, rings, and necklaces. Some investors even buy gold bars and coins, as there is intrinsic value in the genuine article.

Even the pretense of tolerance is gone

2012-06-24T00:01:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
For a while, advocates pushing for the redefinition of marriage did so from behind closed doors, and in a manner that all but guaranteed their efforts could not be traced back to them. In time, however, they began pushing for redefinition in the light, but always with the careful use of a specific lexicon that allowed them to state what they wanted to accomplish while simultaneously not stating it in concrete terms.

Marriage is Marriage - Period

2012-06-07T11:25:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
In this life, a number of relationships are of great significance, such as the relationship between a customer and his banker, a patient and his doctor, or even a congregant and his pastor. These are important relationships—some of which produce near-familial emotions, binding people together at a deep, deep level. And while all of these relationships are important, they are but proximate compared with the ultimate earthly relationship—and that is marriage.

Where We Are And Where We’re Headed

2012-06-04T11:17:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
As a nation, we are much like a train without a conductor, flying down the tracks in a scenic countryside. Because the ride was smooth at the start and the view out the windows was pleasant, we ignored the fact we’ve been chugging along toward an uncertain destination. But now, with night upon us, we have entered a tunnel wherefrom we see a light ahead of us.

Indecision on Obama Mandate Is the Same As Deciding Not To Fight

2012-05-24T10:55:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
In a country as great as the United States of America, where even in hard times we are surrounded by plenty, it’s easy to get comfortable. And in that lax condition, certain freedoms are taken for granted until they are overtly threatened.

Breaking the 'Spiral of Silence'

2012-05-21T15:09:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
In America, nearly one in three pregnancies end in abortion, which means there are “over 1.21 million abortions carried out every year in the United States.” (Planned Parenthood carried out more than 320,000 in 2010 alone.) At rates this high, if abortion were a disease, doctors would label it a pandemic. If it were a war, historians would call it genocide. And if proponents of death like Planned Parenthood were honest, they would call it what it really is—a post-conception contraceptive that kills a preborn child.

The Fallacy of a Worthless Life

2012-05-16T00:01:00-04:00

Alan Sears Column
For good or for ill, when we hear someone talking about a “worthy life,” our minds usually equate it with a successful life.