About John David Lewis

John David Lewis (website) is a Visiting Professor of Political Science, Duke University. He has been a Senior Research Scholar in History and Classics at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center, and an Anthem Fellow. He is a contributing writer for Capitalism Magazine, and a Consulting Editor for The Objective Standard.


Articles by John David Lewis

Report from the 9/11 and 9/12/2009 Washington Protests (September 15, 2009)
People are hungry for a clear statement of a moral principle-because they need guidance on how to understand the many issues with which they are confronted every day.

Hatred of Western Civilization: Why Terrorists Attacked America (September 11, 2009)
The hatred of the West is not based on jealousy but on hatred of the good because it is good. Nihilism, the desire to destroy, is why the enemies of freedom fly planes into buildings and blow themselves up with dynamite.

The Collapse of America? The Dire Message of Mr. David Walker (August 28, 2009)
If fundamental reforms are not begun now, Walker concludes, the United States will experience a financial and political collapse comparable to the fall of Rome.

Suppose Car Insurance Was Considered to Be a 'Right' (August 20, 2009)
The major impetus behind the Democratic health care plans is not economic--it is moral. The claim that health care is a moral right has motivated enormous government coercions against the medical industry for nearly fifty years. But this moral claim has blinded people to the fact that huge price increases have necessarily followed the growth of the coercions. To understand why, it is instructive to consider what would happen if car insurance were considered to be a "right" and the right was enforced by the government.

The Health Care Bill: What HR 3200, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009," Says (August 15, 2009)
A real fact check on Obama's plan for bringing socialized medicine to America.

Jewish Settlements and Israeli Law (July 29, 2009)
The Jewish state is not akin to the Islamic state of Iran--in which clerics rule--or to Saudi Arabia, in which an ancient religious text is the law of the land. In Israel, all are equal in principle before the law. While under Israeli control, Jerusalem is an open city. People of all religions--and of no religion--can walk around freely, protected by Israeli law.

The Charlotte Tea Party Speech (April 20, 2009)
The Charlotte Tea Party Speech by Dr. John David Lewis, Dept. of Political Science, Duke University was first first delivered on April 15, 2009, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Reason or Faith: The Republican Alternative (December 8, 2008)
The reason for the Republicans' defeat is this simple fact: Over the past fifty years, they have ceased to be Republican in anything other than name. For two generations, Republican leaders have abandoned reason, individual rights, and freedom--the founding values of the American republic--in favor of religion, tradition, and "family values."

Airstrikes Against Iran? (November 5, 2008)
Without a forthright statement of our moral right to defend ourselves, followed by a policy of enforcing this right, the US will be unwilling to do what is necessary to destroy the Iranian regime.

The Conservative Package Deal (November 4, 2008)
No socialist-democratic mouthpiece could ever sow such intellectual destruction as a member of the New Right who mouths the words "freedom" all the while advocating leftists policies.

George W. Bush's Empowerment of Iran (November 2, 2008)
The single biggest consequence of the war in Iraq has been the empowerment of Iran.

A Nation of Sacrificers: McCain's Love of What is Not America (October 27, 2008)
Let us then recognize that McCain neither knows nor loves America.

An Open Letter to Members of Congress on the Financial Mess (September 30, 2008)
I oppose all bailouts of financial institutions by the US government. Government regulation and meddling is solidly to blame for this crisis. We must reduce government involvement in the economy now.

America Should Not Abandon Israel -- The Front Line of Civilization (June 21, 2008)
Life under Hamas is hell, life in Israel is good, and most locals know it.

On The Rise of Islamic Rule in Turkey (May 25, 2008)
Genuine reform of Islam cannot occur without challenging the Koran itself.

Islamic States and Thought Crimes: The Thug's Ideal (March 20, 2008)
Islamic governments, as ideological states founded on claims to divine revelation, must jail-or worse-those who speak out against the clerics. This was the thug's ideal: In lieu of rationally demonstrating the 'truth' of his beliefs, he would criminalize me, or jail me, or perhaps kill me, to stop the spread of ideas contrary to his. In Iran, this ideal has already been achieved; there I would have been arrested, condemned, and thrown into solitary confinement. But in America, the thug's ideal is frustrated; without the power of the law to silence me he was reduced to name-calling.

The Meaning of Jihad (December 20, 2007)
The Middle East Media Research Institute has published a first-rate piece on the meaning of jihad.

America's Sanction of its Enemies (January 2, 2007)
The more they attack, the more we appease.

An Open Letter to Republicans (December 6, 2006)
There are two things that all Republicans know today: that you lost the mid-term election, and that the loss was a repudiation of President Bush's policies. What you must now figure out is why. Why did Americans vote as they did? What specific policies did they reject? The answer you accept will determine whether you discover a road to victory for your country and your party, or whether you stumble further into defeat.

Why I Will Not Vote for Any Republican (October 30, 2006)
Conservatives have created a fantasy world of appearance, designed to expropriate the programs of the left while wearing the clothing of American freedom.

The Military Doctrine of Altruism (October 16, 2006)
It is altruism that subjects our military to the slow bleed of dead and maimed soldiers in order to avoid confronting an enemy leader or hurting a shopkeeper. It is altruism that tells our soldiers to build toilets for a hostile population rather than to defeat the deadly enemy. It is altruism that places the welfare of Iraqis over the security of Americans.

Solon the Thinker: Political Thought in Archaic Athens (September 25, 2006)
"Solon the Thinker: Political Thought in Archaic Athens" deals with the poetry of perhaps the earliest political thinker in history, Solon of Athens. Selected as Chief Official in Athens in 594 BC, he is often credited with laying the groundwork for the political constitution of Classical Athens, through a set of written laws that protected the freedom of the Athenians through a rational, even if primitive, legal process.

On a Deluded America (July 2, 2006)
We can save our own lives as an act of moral goodness.

Notes on the Near Eastern Legacy of Islam (June 4, 2006)
Only reason can allow human beings to reject the claim that God dictates the truth to submissive servants, who gain his favor by imposing that claim by force.

The Society for Military History: A Report from the Front (May 27, 2006)
From the outset the conference set an utterly different tone than one hears at America's largest historical enclave, the American Historical Association.

The Little Dictators (May 21, 2006)
To disobey them is to risk loss of career, property, and even life.

Tribute to Iran (May 18, 2006)
Without Iran, Hamas--and the war--would not last long. So what have American leaders done about this?

The Moral Lesson of Hiroshima (April 29, 2006)
The same sense of purpose it took to secure the unconditional surrender of Japan ought to shape our choices today.

Remember Sam Waksal (March 10, 2006)
Dr. Waksal is still in jail, with over four more years to serve -- for the 'crimes' of creation, and of self-protection from malignant government parasites.

The HAMAS Pledge of Global Warfare (February 14, 2006)
Many western intellectuals and politicians claim that the Middle East groups advocating violence are not really religious, but rather political fascists. This directly contradicts the claims made by these groups themselves, who do not separate religion from politics, and fight expressly in the name of God.

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