In May of 2024, Michael Knowles posted on X: “Since 2016, conservatives have rejected the old fusionism as effectively liberal, which it is, and sought to replace it with nationalism.”
Five months later, the American people sent President Trump and JD Vance to the White House with an overwhelming mandate. If Knowles is right, we are presently in a historical moment where a new political order is coming to fruition.
While the 2024 election provides much hope for the nation’s future, it alone will not be enough to save the republic. The massive political victories in November are a result of the American people rejecting the globalist and materialist political philosophies that have dominated American politics for many years.
The new political order filling the void of liberalism is led by figures like Dr. Patrick Deneen, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and, most importantly — the 50th Vice President of the United States, JD Vance. Even President Trump’s recent slew of executive orders have taken a sledgehammer to the dying liberal imperium.
This new order is fundamentally religious and understands that religion will always be the heart of the public square — including the political arena. Specifically, Catholic intellectuals have struck a chord with countless young men across the nation. Today, young men are more religious than young women, with many, including yours truly, finding solace in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. This movement is, in part, why so many young men have been leading the charge against the old political regime. As such, the grip that liberalism once held on modernity no longer exists.
It is no surprise that the appeal of traditional Catholicism is leading many away from liberalism. Liberalism — the 17th-century ideology articulated by John Locke and Thomas Hobbes — places the individual as the highest good or summum bonum of a society. In this egotistical view, man’s position in society is not primarily derived from his family, his community, or God — but rather fundamentally comes from his identity as an individual. Liberalism rejects the notion of the common good or objective truth as a political foundation and paves the way for subjectivism and relativism.
In the centuries following Locke and Hobbes, liberalism morphed into what can be called “late liberalism,” which promised an open society with an entirely neutral public square where the state supposedly tolerates all ideas.
However, this neutrality was more of a myth than a reality.
It was inevitable that some ideology would eventually arise and become the dominant belief of the state and society, and eventually, with powerful movements like the sexual revolution and globalism, a new religion did arise in the public square. Whether it’s Christianity or secularism, there will always be a dominant religion in a society. As Bob Dylan once said, “You gotta serve somebody.”
There is nothing neutral about drag-queen storytime or Transgender Day of Visibility.
Since the World Wars, liberalism has been the West’s governing authority. The post-war era West became enchanted with a globalism that promised freedom, liberation, and prosperity. Instead, national borders and identities were erased, industries were hollowed out, and rural and urban communities alike disintegrated. The liberal project drove the West to the brink of extinction.
However, as R.R. Reno argues in his book Return of The Strong Gods, in recent years, the late 20th-century post-war consensus has been replaced by powerful forces that are beyond the individual: home, country, and religion.
This return of the “strong gods” presents a choice for Conservatives. What exactly ought to be conserved? Unfortunately, some conservatives only appear to care about conserving individualistic liberalism.
For example, when some “conservatives” began softening their stances on abortion, transgenderism, homosexuality, and other central political issues, it became clear that today’s “conservatives” have more in common with a 1990s liberal than a traditional conservative.
If we’re going to conserve anything, it should not be liberalism. Thankfully, the deindustrialization of Middle America, the rise of transgender ideology, and the decay of social norms have led many Americans to reject the principles of individualistic liberalism in favor of a new political order rooted in the common good and religious principles.
This political movement is not without precedent. Throughout the history of the West, the Church, state, and civil society have long cooperated towards the common good of the polity. Christendom brought forth a Golden Age of philosophy, culture, politics, and religion. Though modern thinkers often refer to this period as the “Dark Ages,” it was a period of great European prosperity.
In his work Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed that in this period, “[c]ivil society was renovated in every part by the teachings of Christianity … in the strength of that renewal the human race …. was brought back from death to life.” Once again, this revival must happen in American society.
Our mission will require much work. First, faithful Catholics, along with other Christians, must pray and perfect their personal lives. A Christ-centered mission cannot succeed if we are not authentic in our profession of faith. While some may decry the strategy of purity politics, the American right would be wise to remember, “[f]or what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).
Victory will also require the use of political power for just ends. This tenet applies not only to federal power but also to state and local authorities. Faithful Christians must use the appropriate levers of power to direct policies that defend the common good, protect Christian strongholds throughout the country, and re-establish Christianity as the animating spirit of our society.
The fruits of this project may not be seen for many years, and we may not live to see the rewards of our labor. Nonetheless, the winds are in our favor. Liberalism was rejected at the ballot box, and this election has brought America into her new era.
This is the mission of The American Postliberal, a publication I founded with other young Catholics who believe in the principles of Catholic Political Realism.
Simply put, we believe that Catholicism is true and that its claims on the Church, society, and human flourishing are also true. Together, we recognize the failings of liberalism and seek to show how Catholicism can help recover America’s Christian identity and lead us into a new Golden Age.
