Last Call for Liberty : How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat

[Stephen L Smith]

Last Call for Liberty : How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat

Anyone read this book by Os Guinness? Thoughts?

I find Guinness always informative and thought provoking.

 

[A.Joseph]

I only run across him occasionally, but when I hear him speak I find his perspective unique and insightful. What's the main theme of the book?

Last Call for Liberty : How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat

Anyone read this book by Os Guinness? Thoughts?

I find Guinness always informative and thought provoking.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

What's the main theme of the book?

The hour is critical. The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War.

Conflicts, hostility, and incivility now threaten to tear the country apart. Competing visions have led to a dangerous moment of cultural self-destruction. This is no longer politics as usual, but an era of political warfare where our enemies are not foreign adversaries, but our fellow citizens. Yet the roots of the crisis are deeper than many realize. Os Guinness argues that we face a fundamental crisis of freedom, as America's genius for freedom has become her Achilles' heel. Our society's conflicts are rooted in two rival views of freedom, one embodied in "1776" and the ideals of the American Revolution, and the other in "1789" and the ideals of the French Revolution. Once again America has become a house divided, and Americans must make up their minds as to which freedom to follow. Will the constitutional republic be restored or replaced? This grand treatment of history, civics, and ethics in the Jewish and Christian traditions represents Guinness's definitive exploration of the prospects for human freedom today. He calls for a national conversation on the nature of freedom, and poses key questions for concerned citizens to consider as we face a critical chapter in the American story. He offers readers a checklist by which they can assess the character and consequences of the freedoms they are choosing. In the tradition of Alexis de Tocqueville, Guinness provides a visitor's careful observation of the American experiment. Discover here a stirring vision for faithful citizenship and renewed responsibility for not only the nation but also the watching world.
From https://www.amazon.com/Last-Call-Liberty-Americas-Greatest/dp/0830845593

 

[A.Joseph]

Interesting, has me curious....

The hour is critical. The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War.

Conflicts, hostility, and incivility now threaten to tear the country apart. Competing visions have led to a dangerous moment of cultural self-destruction. This is no longer politics as usual, but an era of political warfare where our enemies are not foreign adversaries, but our fellow citizens. Yet the roots of the crisis are deeper than many realize. Os Guinness argues that we face a fundamental crisis of freedom, as America's genius for freedom has become her Achilles' heel. Our society's conflicts are rooted in two rival views of freedom, one embodied in "1776" and the ideals of the American Revolution, and the other in "1789" and the ideals of the French Revolution. Once again America has become a house divided, and Americans must make up their minds as to which freedom to follow. Will the constitutional republic be restored or replaced? This grand treatment of history, civics, and ethics in the Jewish and Christian traditions represents Guinness's definitive exploration of the prospects for human freedom today. He calls for a national conversation on the nature of freedom, and poses key questions for concerned citizens to consider as we face a critical chapter in the American story. He offers readers a checklist by which they can assess the character and consequences of the freedoms they are choosing. In the tradition of Alexis de Tocqueville, Guinness provides a visitor's careful observation of the American experiment. Discover here a stirring vision for faithful citizenship and renewed responsibility for not only the nation but also the watching world.
From https://www.amazon.com/Last-Call-Liberty-Americas-Greatest/dp/0830845593

 

[Joshua]

Anyone read this book by Os Guinness?

I think it highly likely.

 

[jwithnell]

Interesting premise -- I'd like to read the book. The modern freedom from religion almost certainly comes from the enlightenment, but is far more secularized than the 1780s, at least in the US.

 

[Timmay]

Last Call for Liberty : How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat

Anyone read this book by Os Guinness? Thoughts?

I find Guinness always informative and thought provoking.

Yes I’ve read it. A poster above summarized what it is about. The views of freedom as illustrated by two revolutions, 1776 and 1789.

1776 was freedom from tyranny AND freedom to be something. It had a goal to be something.

1789 was freedom from “restraint” as the atheists saw it. It was not freedom to be anything and said nothing about what freedom is for. Thus it led to tyranny.

I found it helpful in that regard, but also Guinness is good at pointing out how the ideals of 1789 are faulty, and what those proponents are doing with those ideals in culture and political life. For example, the progressives, or as he calls them regressives, want a utopia of their own making. In order to get it, they have to tear down the past. This includes statues, but also laws, morality, and the Constitution. Their utopia is one of force.

He also draws parallels between 1789 and progressives, and how both want to remove the chains of morality. He says the only rule left for them in the sexual revolution is consent. But then he uses that argument to call out their inconsistency. Forcing others into sexual intercourse is a rape of the body; the progressives say there must be consent. But then they will at the same time, force others to agree with or affirm a sexual ethic, which is a rape of the conscience; the progressives say this doesn’t require consent.

He quickly and insightfully gets to their motivations and shows how their view of freedom fails because it has no final accountability.

He also has a large section on the lack of recognition of OT Israel as a foundation for how our country was set up, and when we fail to recognize that, we undercut our own system.

At the end he provides some solutions, and they are exactly what the Founders said: to be a virtuous people based upon the Judeo-Christian ethic, and follow the Constitution as written based upon original intent. Both are needed and are forms of accountability the progressives do not have. We need laws because none of us are virtuous enough to check ourselves, and by extension other branches of government.

But we also need virtue to submit and follow those laws that we as citizens have mutually agreed to. This is part of a sort of relationship with the nation and it’s other citizens (this is expanded upon in an early chapter). This is not a social contract. He uses the word covenant actually.
If we are forced to obey these laws instead of agreeing to them and being mutually bound to them, we are coerced and are not really free. When we refuse to be bound by these laws, such as the left who want to “unshackle” themselves, usually more or new laws are added by the govt because the government feels it has to control its unruly people or the new laws are part of the “unshackling.” These laws in turn are more oppressive because they coerce or force people. Therefore we have less freedom and are not really free at all. And thus virtue is needed to prevent these things.

And therein lies the situation that is occurring in this nation now: our freedoms are eroding because progressives believe lack of restraint is true freedom, when in reality it is true tyranny.




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[Stephen L Smith]

Yes I’ve read it. A poster above summarized what it is about. The views of freedom as illustrated by two revolutions, 1776 and 1789.

1776 was freedom from tyranny AND freedom to be something. It had a goal to be something.

1789 was freedom from “restraint” as the atheists saw it. It was not freedom to be anything and said nothing about what freedom is for. Thus it led to tyranny.

Thank you. Very informative. So it looks like a book with significant worldview reflection?

 

[Timmay]

Thank you. Very informative. So it looks like a book with significant worldview reflection?

There’s a lot of that in there but based around freedom as viewed through how the American Republic is meant to be.


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[Stephen L Smith]

freedom as viewed through how the American Republic is meant to be.

I am a New Zealander but no doubt it is relevant for Christians in all Western Nations. We face the same issue re the sexual revolution, Christian freedoms etc.

Barnabus Fund have put out a number of country specific booklets re Western Christian freedoms, eg, https://barnabasfund.org/sites/defa...eligious-freedom/turn-the-tide-booklet-uk.pdf

I find Guinness always informative and thought provoking.

I should clarify this - I have greatly enjoyed Guinness's writings in the past, but I note he is sometimes reluctant to use a full orbed Reformed perspective in his writings.

 

[RobertPGH1981]

I added the book to my list using credits. Listening to the sample seems very informative.