Mind Your Liberty

For this month's episode I recorded a terrific Dorothy Sayers' essay on education, called The Lost Tools of Learning. In it, she outlines a return to classical education in the modern era. I simply didn't have time to expound on it much, but the piece stands on it's own. Enjoy, and have your thoughts provoked! www.mindyourliberty.com www.classicalconversations.com The Lost Tools of Writing, by Dorothy Sayers - https://archive.org/details/sayers1948losttoolslearning

My friends Fred and Rawné Pierce discuss their family homeschooling journey, how they encountered Classical Conversations, and why they chose classical education for their family. They have a unique perspective, as they look back, now that they are about to graduate their oldest child. Mentioned resources: A Thomas Jefferson Education - https://a.co/d/4Qd726l https://bravebooks.us/ https://jockopodcast.com/ The Way of the Warrior Kid - https://a.co/d/dJ5Pwz2 https://classicalconversations.com/ https://www.mindyourliberty.com/

Local School Board member Kim Miller joins us to discuss her experience on the school board, and how we can stay engaged in the community as Christians, even if our kids aren't in the public school district. James Lindsay's New Discourses Bullets (Scroll down to the first episodes from last year) - https://newdiscourses.com/tag/nd-bullets/ The Expulsive Power of a New Affection , Thomas Chalmers, Book - https://a.co/d/03i4wHx The Expulsive Power of a New Affection , Thomas Chalmers, PDF - https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/Chalmers,%20Thomas%20-%20The%20Exlpulsive%20Power%20of%20a%20New%20Af.pdf http://www.mindyourliberty.com

In this short informal episode I dust off the mic after a month's break and go over What's in a Name, Where We've been, & What's in Store for 2023. What's in a name - Why the podcast is titled Mind Your Liberty, and what shape the podcast has taken Where we've been - a brief look back at the podcast in 2022 What's in store for 2023 - To give you an idea of what to expect this year. Thanks for listening! http://www.mindyourliberty.com

"The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations” - John Adams to Hezekiah Niles, 1818 Have you ever wondered what was being preached in the American colonies before the revolution? Given the outstanding role that "religious sentiments" played in the pre-war psyche, we certainly should be curious what the preaching was like. Today I read though a sermon preached by Rev. Samuel Davies, way back in 1755. This sermon was given to admonish a group of volunteer militia going to defend the western territories during the French and Indian War. Listen in and hear what he had to say! There are many points to consider that are fully as applicable today as in 1755. The Constituents of A Good Soldier, full text - https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N05830.0001.001/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext John Adams’ Letter to Hezekiah Niles - https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/ows/seminars/revolution/Adams-Niles.pdf Adams’ Letter Full Text, beta transcript - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6854 Book where I found this sermon. - https://a.co/g7uJqLy www.mindyourliberty.com

The Stamp Act was now going into effect in Colonial America, meaning colonists of all stripes (anybody that used paper) had to make a choice - to use the comply or not to comply. John Dickinson, “the Penman of the Revolution”, wrote this broadside pamphlet to encourage his countrymen to carefully consider their course of action, and the consequences thereof. “THE Stamp Act, therefore, is to be regarded only as an EXPERIMENT OF YOUR DISPOSITION. If you quietly bend your Necks to that Yoke, you prove yourselves ready to receive any Bondage to which your Lords and Masters shall please to subject you.” [Emphasis original] Stamp Act - https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/stamp_act_1765.asp Broadside Against the Stamp Act - https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Writings_of_John_Dickinson/DaWqy3gNcogC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA201&printsec=frontcover Other good stuff - https://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/crisis/text3/stampactresponse1765.pdf http://www.mindyourliberty.com

In this episode I read through and briefly talk about another important document from the revolutionary era, The Rights of Colonists, by Samuel Adams. This document is another one of the many you can trace the similar lines of thought from the early 1760's (and earlier) to the mid 1770's, and beyond. Adams further develops the concept of natural rights in this piece. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-rights-of-the-colonists/ http://www.mindyourliberty.com

What do we do when a country is being divided? When "enemies" are skewing events, blowing things out of perspective, and demonizing us? When we are being labeled as "dangerous" and "a threat"? Well, lets take a peek into a similar situation back in 1768, and see how a Boston town meeting wrote to their London agent and explained events that had been used to stoke division. Maybe there is something for us today. P.S. I know it's the 30th not the 29th. :-) Letter to Dennys De Bert September 22nd - https://archive.org/details/writings01sammuoft/page/240/mode/2up King George's reply to the Massachusetts Circular Letter (June 21st) - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015073215843&view=1up&seq=88 June 10th “insurrection”. - https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-liberty-affair-john-hancock-loses-a-ship-and-starts-a-riot/

In this podcast episode I read through a rousing oration given by patriot Samuel Adams in Philadelphia on August 1st, 1776 American Independence. The following day, the members of congress affixed their signatures to the parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence. British paper quoted in the speech: https://classicliberal.tripod.com/price/ncl04.html Text of the American Independence oration: https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/historical-documents/american-independence/ www.mindyourliberty.com

In this short episode I read through America’s favorite document, the Declaration of Independence. Most of us probably read through it in grade school, some of us have studied it since then, but I believe all of us could benefit from once again listening to these timely, intentional words. Pauline Maier’s book American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense - https://oll.libertyfund.org/page/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet

Today I celebrate the the historic Supreme Court decision, where they get something right and recognize our God-given right to self defense, specifically carrying pistols in public. I read though the syllabus of the opinion. Follow along, I bet you'll learn something! Epoch Times article - https://www.theepochtimes.com/supreme-court-strikes-down-new-yorks-unconstitutional-concealed-carry-gun-law_4553435.html The Opinion - https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf Federlaist 37 (referenced) - https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed37.asp Further reading on the incorporation doctrine: "Government by Judiciary" by Raoul Berger.

In this episode we cover A Summary View of the Rights of British America, by Thomas Jefferson (1774) There are a lot of timeless quotes taken out of this piece. I point out a few of these and break down the document a little bit before reading through the whole thing, so we can get a grasp on the context these quotes are being taken from. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/a-summary-view-of-the-rights-of-british-america-2/ https://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/ www.mindyourliberty.com

This is episode #2 in the Wordy Wednesday series. Today we cover some old words I encountered while preparing a forthcoming episode covering A SUMMARY VIEW OF THE RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, by Thomas Jefferson. The words covered in today's episode are: Imperious, Recognizance, Nugatory, Salutary, Allodial, Feudal, Burthens, Venal www.mindyourliberty.com https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/

In this episode I read Washington’s Farewell Address. Our first president was offering some parting advice, while looking forward to retirement after over 20 years of service to his country. Issues he addressed back then may sound familiar to us even today. He mentioned the dangers of party politics, overgrown military establishments, entangling European alliances, choosing favorite nations, what to do with the national debt, encroachment upon liberty, and public morality. Hopefully at least some of those sound to you like something worth listening to, from our first president! Links: Transcript of George Washington’s Farewell Address - https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-sources-2/article/washington-s-farewell-address-1796/ “my proclamation of the twenty-second of April, I793” - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-12-02-0371 Wordy Wednesday #1 - https://www.mindyourliberty.com/e/wordy-wednesday-1/

Words are our primary means of expressing ideas. As such, they are natural means of subversion of liberty, which is, among other things, an idea. This is the inaugural episode for an ongoing series of episodes called "Wordy Wednesday". Sometimes, we'll dive into high-impact words and spend a full length episode digging into the word and the ideas behind it. Other days, like this episode, we will simply define some old words that I ran into while studying for a future or past episode. These will be shorter episodes, but hopefully will help us understand the documents we are looking at better. Today we cover the following words: solicitude, specious, weal, antipathy, umbrage, odium, caprice Johnson's Dictionary Online - https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/ Websters 1828 Dictionary - http://www.webstersdictionary1828.com/ www.mindyourliberty.com

February 11th, 1768, 254 years ago today, the Massachusetts Colonial Legislature sent out what we today would call an open letter to the British Parliament, with copies sent to the other colonies as well. Recent acts of Parliament were felt in the colonies to be "encroaching" on the public liberty. The rights asserted in this letter were felt to be universal among the British Colonies, and so any infringement upon them was to be met with a united front of resistance. This letter forms part of the important context of the American Revolution. As these rights are inalienable and the principles timeless, it is worth studying to see how we can apply it today. Links: The Stamp Act The Declaratory Act The Townshend Act The Massachusetts Circular Letter Samuel Adams: A Life Ira Stoll TAC- How to read an 18th century legal document The Massachusetts Circular Letter: A Springboard for Colonial Defiance

The Second Amendment Preservation Act, commonly referred to as SAPA, has been in the news a lot lately. Everybody, if you listen to the mainstream news, is against it now. Gun-grabbing leftists, news and media outlets, and maybe surprisingly to some, the law enforcement community has come out against the act. However, this is a historic bill that took 8 years to get passed, and was passed at the insistence of tens of thousands of Missourians. So what's so bad about this bill? In this quick episode I look at some of the complaints from the LE community. Then I simply read the bill. It’s only six pages, or about 15 minutes. Then it’s up to you to go out and have an informed conversation about it when you hear people cutting it down, or supporting some bill that would castrate it. Links: The Second Amendment Preservation Act Missouri Police Sue to Block Second Amendment Preservation Act ATF HAS NEARLY 1 BILLION RECORDS IN A REGISTRY The Tenth Amendment Center on the Tenth Amendment 2nd Amendment Preservation: Foundation to Nullify Federal Gun Control Fox News article cited: Why police are concerned about Missouri’s new gun law Missouri agencies can comply with SAPA and still accept federal help to fight crime

John Witherspoon is one of the greatest, yet overlooked, influencers of the founding generation. This episode features a sermon preached he preached at Princeton University on May 17th, 1776. Witherspoon admits “that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At this season however, it is not only lawful but necessary”. My hope is that you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording it!

This is just a short (really short) note to let you know I am, in fact, still alive, and I do, in fact intend to continue the podcast. I also wanted to let you know a bit of what is coming down the pipe for Mind Your Liberty. Enjoy the short now, the next one is long!

Jono Scott is running for City Council in Aurora, Colorado for Ward 3. In this interview he talks about why he is running, and how he got here, and he gives us a perspective on what a city council position could looks like. Check out his webpage: https://www.jonoscott.com/ Support Jono: https://secure.anedot.com/jono-scott/