The essay argues that what defines being American is commitment to being a nation of laws, and it draws on Lincoln's 1838 Lyceum address, which it praises and adopts: citizens should revere and obey the law, and mob action is never justified. It charges the current administration with disregarding process, Congress, and international law. It contends that Trump is no rival to Lincoln and that lawlessness rots national character. It denies that Lincoln's 'political religion' was Christian nationalism, notes that respect for law need not mean endorsing every law or opposing conscience, and closes by adopting Theodore Roosevelt's warning about politicians who promise to do wrong on voters' behalf.
Reviewed
Its text teaches none of the positions Doxa lists.
Keyword counts
Woke keywords
Counted95.7 points from 23 keywords, 60 matches in 1,267 words
- america… 18
- nation… 7
- government… 5
- christian nationalism 1
- trump 1
- politic… 3
Doxa counts words and phrases from a fixed list, each worth some points. It doesn't read context, so a word counts however it's used, and a keyword ending in … counts every word that starts with it.
Being a nation of laws is what makes ambition, wealth, happiness, and freedom possible, or at least more possible.
What most fundamentally makes Americans American is that the United States is a nation of laws: to be American is to follow and support the law, to push for better laws, and to be committed to everyone following the law.
People who favor monarchy, oligarchy, or aristocracy are not acting in the American way.
The current administration follows neither process nor law: its Justice Department finds ways to do what is wrong and illegal, it pushes aside what Congress has decided, and its Defense Department ignores international law.
Donald Trump is not a rival to Abraham Lincoln, because Lincoln believed in the American Way of being a nation of laws.
- Endorses a source· Abraham Lincoln, Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois (1838)
Lincoln was a truly great president, and his 1838 Lyceum address on perpetuating political institutions is a wonderful speech that should be read and proclaimed widely.
Denying, circumventing, and silencing the law endangers liberty, and enslavement was contrary to the true American Way.
- Adopts· Abraham Lincoln
Every American should vow never to violate the laws of the country and never to tolerate their violation by others.
- Adopts· Abraham Lincoln
Reverence for the laws should be taught in homes, schools, and colleges and preached from the pulpit.
Lincoln's call for reverence for the law as a 'political religion' is not Christian nationalism in any form; his religious terms were only language his audience resonated with.
At the time of his Lyceum address, Lincoln had almost no Christian faith.
Following the law forms virtue in a people, and lawlessness rots American character.
- Adopts· Abraham Lincoln
No grievance is a proper object of redress by mob law; if a thing is right it deserves legal protection, and if wrong it should be prohibited by legal enactment.
Lincoln's words on the rule of law apply today, and the American Way calls everyone to be vigilant for a nation ruled by and following its laws.
A commitment to the rule of law does not mean endorsing every law or opposing conscience and conscientious objection.
Trump, Vance, Vought, Miller, and Johnson should either stop comparing themselves to Lincoln or return to his words, because too many of their actions have been un-American.
- Adopts· Theodore Roosevelt
A politician who promises to do something wrong or unlawful in your interest will, when it suits him, do wrong against your interest.
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