Brain Trust - Ken Klukowski

Ken Klukowski, co-author of Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America, joined the Matt Friedeman Show to talk about his  book as well as constitutional conservatism in general.

Could you define constitutional conservatism?

Constitutional conservatism is the form of government given to us by our founding fathers.

In that document there are eight keys to constitutional government.

Is constitutional government just a the thought that the federal government should only do what it's allowed to by the Constitution?

Well that's certainly the core of that, but it's a bit broader.

It talks about the family as the most basic unit of human government.

It talks about empowering families, empowering individuals.

So I think it goes beyond just the issue of what is the role of government to what is the role of fathers, mothers, families, churches.

Could you say that the federal government is an enemy of family?

I wouldn't want to label the government as an enemy of the family.

The government is made up of individuals, and some of those individuals have been heroes for constitutional conservatism.

I would say that in general the government hasn't been kind to constitutional government.

Was there some point in our history where an accelerator was pressed that shouldn't have been?

Absolutely.

We explained in the book that government only grows when the families fail and when the churches are silent.

In the 1930's, that's where we start to take big steps away from the family.

Why isn't voting and giving money enough?

We talk about making Americans citizen activists.

And we speak in the concluding chapter about the parable of the talents.

We make the point that the talents we are given by our creator here in America - that the right to vote is one of those talents. But our right of free speech is another talent.

The Lord expects for us to earn a return on each talent he's given to us.

Why have homosexual activists been so successful?

With the secularization of American culture, they have taken it to the next step...There should be no moral judgment.

If you silence the churches, if you jettison the churches...then you cannot have moral absolutes.