Welcome to Breakpoint: a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. Earlier this week, in an attempt to recover $2.5 billion in federal funding, Harvard University took the Trump administration to court. This started just a few weeks ago when the president called on all institutions of higher learning to crack down on anti-Semitism on their campuses. Harvard was specifically warned, by name, that if they did not make changes, they'd lose their federal funding.
In a letter to Harvard's wider community, the school's president painted this thread as a challenge to academic freedom. Quote, No government, regardless of which party is in power, should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue. Former President Obama then inserted himself into the conversation, posting this comment on X, quote, Harvard has set an example for other higher ed institutions, rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate, and mutual respect. Let's hope other institutions follow suit, end quote. As Dr.
Andrew Walker pointed out, it's certainly odd that someone who attempted to force nuns to pay for contraception would position himself as a vanguard of the First Amendment. But this is the same former president who also said that he could always get things done because, and I quote, I have a pen and I have a phone.
Well, now both of those things are in the hands of a different administration. The IRS is even considering revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status, and it's not just Harvard that's on the receiving end here. According to Ballotpedia, President Trump has issued some 171 similar executive orders, 45 memoranda, and proclamations on policies ranging from trade, healthcare, immigration, energy, and criminal justice. In response to one of President Trump's posts about Harvard, constitutional lawyer and First Amendment defender Casey Maddox wisely advised caution, saying this: quote, the prior administration and various lefty groups literally tried to do this. They failed.
we should not give them the tools to succeed. Maddox has a good point. For the last few decades, Christians and conservatives barely fought off all kinds of attempts by progressive administrations to squash dissent. Thankfully, there are strong legal and traditional protections for conscience grounded in the Constitution. But make no mistake, the next president will be more than happy to use any precedent that's been set by former office holders, whether Obama or Trump.
Breakpoint contributor Dr. Glenn Sunshine has pointed out that the infamous Machiavelli, a name now shorthand for tyranny, was actually, at least in words, a strong advocate for freedom. His call for an all-powerful prince was not argued as some ideal, but as political triage. Things were so bad that only an unlimited ruler could make them right. Ideally, the prince would hand power back over once the crisis passed, but of course it never works that way.
As Lord Acton said, power corrupts and absolute power, absolutely. The rule of law is essential for flourishing, but not as a means for keeping one party perpetually out of power. The realities of the human condition in this post fall world mean that no one should be trusted with unchecked power. Our founders understood that if people were angels, government would not be necessary. If politicians were perfect, neither would restraints.
Now none of this means, of course, that Harvard deserves tax dollars or tax breaks. Only that there are reasons for our rules and for the restraints on power. If you win by an executive order, you can die from an executive order just four years later. for the Colson Center on John Stone Street with Break Point. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr.
Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for a version of this commentary that you can print out or share with others, go to breakpoint.org.
