Natural Law and the New Right v. The Constitution Ch2b: the Judicial Restraint Activism of the 1980s

Part 4: The Natural Law provides a key to resolving a Republican debate in the 1980s on the normative judicial power, Judicial Activism v. Judicial Restraint. We discussed the first part of the second chapter last time (8 Jan 2026) and this time we continue with the second half of Chapter 2, pp. 16 to through 23. Stephen Macedo published "The New Right v. The Constitution" with The CATO Institute in 1986. We're going to make a fair use and do a transformative reading of the book. CATO offers a free download of the book here: https://www.cato.org/books/new-right-v-constitution We'd like to thank Stephen Macedo for writing the book and to thank CATO for making this material available in publishing it. Consider supporting CATO with a financial donation so that they can continue providing quality resources for discussion. Tell a friend about their resources. The Republican Professor is a pro-appropriate-judicial-activism podcast. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor Twitter: @RepublicanProf Instagram: @the_republican_professor

Part 3: On the 22nd of December 2025, Republican appointed federal Judge Roger Benitez (Cuban ethnicity) struck down the Democrat mandated lying to parents in the K-12 school system. We covered it beginning in late December 2025 and in a second episode in late January 2026 Unusual behavior or conduct of a student at school isn't grounds for a violation of Constitutional rights, Benitez held in Mirabelli v. Olson (Filed 22 Dec 2025), available here : https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46/6949e11ea6bae817c8eaf637_Dkt%20%20307_MSJ%20Order.pdf Part 3. We cover from page 18 at line 24 through to Part B on page 30. We'll continue from there next time. This episode includes a Chaplain's corner prayer time thanking the Lord for Roger Benitez and asking for wisdom for the future. The Republican Professor is a pro-anti-tax-funded-abuse-of-parents podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

This is Part 10 in a series celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Harvard University Press' 1985 publication of Richard A. Epstein's "Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain." We continue our celebration of this anniversary with a fair use and transformative reading, taking a close look at ch. 5 continuing in the same section which Richard calls ""Takings Prima Facia," which makes the analogy between private law takings in the common law harm tradition and the public law takings where the government is a defendant. He titles chapter 5, "Partial Takings: The Unity of Ownership," because he's taking a look at the natural law of the natural coherent unity of the very nature of incidents of ownership (possession, use, disposition/abuse) and the American constitutional order, how these things interact and hang together, ensconced as it is in the purpose of the Constitution. That moral purpose is the protection of individual liberty against claims by a simple majority in a democracy, or judicial or executive fiat, or by the government in any other way in a taking of private property. It's also a good reflection on nature of property per se, whether public or private. For governments are owners as well as takers of property. Today we discuss the entirety of his chapter 5 from pp. 57 to 62.. At the end, this episode concludes with a reading of Psalm 52 in the ESV and January 27th in Streams in the Desert (Cowman Publications, Lost Feliz Station Lost Angeles, Calif. 1925 original non-woke edition). Excellent stuff here. Excellent. Every college student should read this book. It's a superb introduction to the political philosophy of the American regime. Praise the Lord. We'd like to thank Harvard University Press for making this material available and Richard Epstein for writing it. Make sure you buy the book and follow along. It's very important for you to have your own copy on your own bookshelf, and to begin to master this material. Support your local book dealer. See if they have a copy of it, or if they'd mind keeping an eye out for you. I always encourage buying physical books, objects you can have, hold, cherish, learn from, display on your bookshelf as a topic of conversation, things you can pass on to the next generation with your notes in them, things that do not depend upon electricity. Toward that end: Go to Harvard University Press for more selections available for purchase. Please support the publisher and your local booksellers. The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly-contemplating-property-rights podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor Twitter: @RepublicanProf Instagram: @the_republican_professor

This is Part 4. We want to thank Free Press for making this material available and thank D'Souza for writing it. Thank you, Dinesh. We continue our discussion of Dinesh D'Souza's Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (NY, NY: Free Press, 1991) starting chapter 2, called "More Equal Than Others: Admissions Policy at Berkeley," getting through to page 32 at the top. We do a fair use and a transformative reading of a book I encountered in high screwel at Chatfield High Screwel in Jefferson County, Littleton, Colorado in 1991. I wrote an article about it in my high screwel newspaper, the Chatfield Charter. This is in a series of TRP backstory episodes on The Republican Professor podcast. I believe I originally used my paper route money to buy the book myself at Summit Ministries in Summer 1991 in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Thanks to my Grandpa Mather for sending me those 4 years. The book is "Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus" (NY, New York: Free Press, 1991) by a very young Dinesh D'Souza. We want to encourage you to buy the book either used or new. Throw some money at the publisher for the book to reward them for publishing good books. Follow D'Souza on social media and check out his films as well as his books. Get the book and follow along. We want to thank Free Press for making this material available and thank D'Souza for writing it. Thank you, Dinesh. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor Twitter: @RepublicanProf Instagram: @the_republican_professor

We're discussing the 55th Volume, Number 1 of Hillsdale College's excellent publication called Imprimis, which is free, all you have to do is sign up for it and they send it to you in the mail. 7.3 million have wisely elected to do so, including me. This one was published in January 2026 called "Learning From Minnesota's Somali Fraud Scandal," by Scott W. Johnson, whose short bio we cover. We do a fair use and a transformative reading in our discussion and teaching of this free material. We'd like to thank Scott W. Johnson for his service, for writing it, and we'd like to thank Hillsdale College for making it available for discussion. Go to Hillsdale.edu to learn more and to support this wonderful institution. https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/learning-from-minnesotas-somali-fraud-scandal/ Support Hillsdale College financially ! The Republican Professor is a pro-Imprimis, pro-Hillsdale-College podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Part 11. We're continuing from 13 January 2026, discussing the second subsection in his chapter 5 (The Relation of Ideological Tyranny to the Authoritarian State), called "The Demonism of Ideologized Christianity" based on the insights from a master observer of both types of totalitarian socialisms on the Left, national socialism -- sometimes called fascism -- and the kind of socialism that the Communists in East Germany and Russia had during the 1900s, during the life of Dr. Thielicke. (USSR meant Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). We go from pp. 62 to the bottom of p. 66 at the beginning of the next subsection. (See 13 Jan 2026, "Revelation 13...." for the last episode in this series). Our return guest today on The Republican Professor Podcast is the former professor of Theology at the University of Hamburg in West Germany, Dr. Helmut Thielicke, Ph.D., D.Theol. (Philosophy and Theology). Professor Thielicke once again joins us through his teaching in his Theological Ethics, Vol. 2: Politics. My copy was purchased at Old Capitol Books (new location) in Monterey, California, across from Nick the Greek restaurant on Alvarado Street (their old location was 559 Tyler, Monterey, CA, across from the Peet's Coffee and was formerly Book Haven for many years), and is a hard copy published in 1969 by Fortress Press and edited by William H. Lazareth. Thielicke died before he was able to come on to The Republican Professor Podcast. We thank Fortress Press for making the book available. Check out their catalogue for a full listing of their very interesting titles, and buy one. Get a copy of this for yourself and following along in our transformative, performative reading of it as we make fair use on his insights, with fresh scholarly commentary from me, and allow it to shape our understanding of American Politics. This is part 11 in a series on The Republican Professor Podcast, an introduction to theological reflection on American government. Here, we continue the topic of the nature and power of "ideology" in Communist Socialist and National Socialist (sometimes called by others fascistic socialism/fascism). Our very special guest today is, once again, the esteemed and long-time Professor of Theology at the University of Hamburg, Helmut Thielicke. And I've invited Professor Thielicke to join us today through my transformative, performative reading (with my scholarly commentary upon) and fair use of his teaching on this topic in his magisterial "Theological Ethics, Volume 2: Politics." My copy of the book was published in 1969 by Fortress Press. Please buy a copy of the book and follow along with our study of this material. Please, please support your brick and mortar used book dealers as well. Professor Thielicke died before we were able to invite him in person as a guest on the podcast. Thanks to Fortress Press, the book is still in print and would be a valuable addition, indeed, to your personal library. Please support the work of Fortress Press and buy the book, and check out the other selections that they carry, as well. The Republican Professor Podcast is a pro-deeply-conversing-on-the-theological-aspects-of-the-nature-of-government podcast. Therefore, welcome Professor Helmut Thielicke ! The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. To financially support this podcast, comment on today's episode, or to make a suggestion for a topic or guest for the podcast or Substack newsletter, send an email to [email protected] . We'd love to hear from you. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/

Part 11: We're using the slip opinion this time, see below for a link. Why the Court's majority is wrong in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia (2020) (part 11 in a series) about the faulty assumption that unexamined and unexplained transgenderism premises about sex and gender are properly included under "sex discrimination" language in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act --This continues to be a real hoot. Part 11: We continue our in-depth examination of sex, gender, and separation of powers in the US Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, GA 590 U.S. 644 (2020): the Republican dispute, how to understand it, and what to do about it. We introduce Justice Kavanaugh's strong dissent (although there are a couple of issues, one kinda tacky, the other a bit more serious) grounded in the moral arc of separation of powers: to protect individual liberty. Justice Kavanaugh rightly concludes that the Court threatened individual liberty under the guise of protecting it -- a serious charge indeed -- and one I think is probably correct. We get through the bottom of his page 6 in the slip opinion of his dissent. Part 11. Today's episode begins with a Chaplain's corner: a reading from Psalm 3 in the ESV, and Streams in the Desert January 26th (Cowman Publications Lost Feliz Station Lost Angeles, Calif., non-woke original edition). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf The Republican Professor is a pro-separation-of-powers-rightly-construed podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor Twitter: @RepublicanProf Instagram: @the_republican_professor

We're continuing our discussion of The Trivium today in conversation with Sister Miriam Joseph, Ph.D., who joins us through her writing teaching ministry in "The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric" originally published in 1937. We're discussing the first section of her second chapter. That chapter is called The Nature and Function of Language. We'd like to thank Sister Miriam Joseph for writing this and we'd like to thank Paul Dry Books 2002 for making this particular edition available to readers (edited by Marguerite McGlinn). We're doing a fair use and transformative reading, and would encourage you to go out and get yourself a physical copy of this book. Whether used or new, or even a different edition, if you can find it, get the book, a physical copy you can hold in your hand, and follow along with the discussion. The Republican Professor is a pro-Trivium-done-right podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Claremont Review of Books published an issue in Spring 2025 called "Let's Not Do That Again: President Trump's Trade War Could Have Ended Badly" on pp. 17 through 21. We're doing a fair use and transformative reading of the essay in one of my favorite publications. This is an engagement with an essay by Christopher Caldwell, one of my favorite writers on American Politics, The piece is accessible to the public at https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/lets-not-do-that-again/ Kesler, Editor of the CRB, was one of my Ph.D. professors at Claremont Colleges (4 courses). We want to thank Claremont Review of Books for making this material available. Go to ClaremontReviewofBooks.com to subscribe for a very reasonable price and get the hard copies with aesthetically pleasing artwork and thoughtful though accessible essays in your physical mailbox. The Republican Professor is a pro-Claremont-Review-of-Books podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

We continue our study of open carry in America's Constitutional tradition by spending more time today with Baird v. Bonta (2 Jan 2026, 9th Circuit) from the top of page 11 (Roman Numeral II) through to the top of page 27 (up to Roman Numeral V). The pro-Second-Amendment opinions, both of them that we take a look at, were written by Republican appointees (Trump, Republican US Senate). We will pick up at page 27 and Roman Numeral V next time. This episode and this series is dedicated to the memory of my closest first cousin, Little Dan Mountain Jr, closest in age by just a couple of weeks, who died a week ago today, last Thursday. I picked a topic that would bring a smile to his face and that would honor the bright spots in our childhood together in Colorado. The Republican Professor is a pro-Second-Amendment-in-California podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.