In his latest book, What Really Matters: Restoring a Legacy of Faith, Freedom, and Family, Timothy S. Goeglein, with co-author Craig Osten, delivers a compelling and urgent manifesto for a nation at a crossroads. With the precision of a historian and the unflagging passion of a patriot, Goeglein examines the cultural, moral, and spiritual decline of America, offering a roadmap to reclaim the values that once made this nation a beacon of hope and liberty.
For those concerned about the erosion of religious liberty, the breakdown of the family, and the loss of historical literacy, this book is both a wake-up call and a source of hope.
America’s greatness, Goeglein argues, is rooted in its foundational principles of faith, family, and freedom. But these pillars are under relentless attack from a culture increasingly hostile to religious values and historical truth. Readers who engage with Goeglein’s approachable mix of personal anecdotes and unique experience in evaluating culture from the perspective of one committed to conservative values as a political insider will be helped to diagnose the nation’s ailments and encouraged by a path forward for the nation.
Among its most poignant themes is the book’s defense of religious liberty. As the cornerstone of all other freedoms, Goeglein recognizes its placement at the head of the Bill of Rights for its essential role in fostering a moral and virtuous citizenry. Yet, this foundational freedom is, in the present day, facing civilizational challenges. From government mandates forcing religious organizations to violate their beliefs to cultural pressures marginalizing people of faith, the threats to religious liberty are real and growing.
Here, Goeglein’s analysis is not merely theoretical; it is deeply practical. The consequences of a society that abandons its Judeo-Christian heritage does more than risk the structural support of freedom. A society such as ours that abandons its rich heritage faces the pain of loneliness, despair, and division at the personal level. That’s his stentorian warning: an America that loses its moral framework—that which underpins our democratic institutions, the first of our freedoms—will find that a society depressed in every aspect. Or, as Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami aptly states in the book, “Broken windows invite further broken windows.”
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Thankfully there is an antidote to this cultural decay and Goeglein draws upon his years spent engaging the political elite to look for ways in which our leaders might restore the bedrock of society. From illustrations on how the decline of marriage and the family has led to a host of societal ills, including poverty, crime, and mental health crises, Goeglein turns to offer hope, pointing to the transformative power of faith and committed parenting. As he writes, “If we are to restore marriage and the family and begin to reverse their decline...we must start with the restoration of religious faith.” Which, unironically, is where the Founders of this great nation started too.
But of course, that requires a clear understanding of our nation’s history. Sadly, America’s citizenry lags in its historical literacy. Such widespread ignorance of American history, which Goeglein attributes to decades of revisionist teaching and cultural amnesia, stands as a portent to a once-great nation: ignore your past, be doomed to repeat your mistakes. Or, as Goeglein quotes President Ronald Reagan’s prophetic warning in his farewell address: “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are.”
Progressives, for their part, mask historical literacy in an alternative, ahistorical narrative that only serve to make the nation more historically illiterate. Thus, efforts like the 1619 Project intentionally focus on America’s flaws to undermine national unity and foster greater division. Such pessimistic, ahistorical projects should be rejected in favor of a balanced, honest approach to our history that acknowledges both the nation’s sins and its triumphs—a classical approach made famous for initiatives like Hillsdale College’s 1776 Curriculum, a refreshing counterpoint to the otherwise prevailing trends in education.
Ultimately, What Really Matters is a call to action. Readers will be challenged to reject the cultural mantra of “you do you” and instead embrace a life of service, sacrifice, and commitment to others. His is a patient, optimistic urging of Americans to return to the values that made this nation a “shining city on a hill,” including a renewed commitment to religious liberty, strong families, and historical truth.
Goeglein leaves despair to others and uses any critique of what is wrong to offer a hopeful vision of what could be. Or maybe we could say, to what has been that can be again, given the foundational principles that made this nation need only to be welcomed again, not reinvented. Those who will work through his gentle critique will be eager to join him in the work of restoration.
In a time of cultural and political polarization, What Really Matters is a unifying and clarion call to remember who we are and what we stand for. It is a book that deserves a place on the shelf of every American who believes in the enduring power of faith, freedom, and family.
Jeremy Dys is Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all. Learn more at FirstLiberty.org.
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