A Free People's Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future

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A Free People's Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 46 ratings · 18 reviews

"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." Abraham Lincoln Nothing is more daring in the American experiment than the founders' belief that the American republic could remain free forever. But how was this to be done, and are Americans doing it today? It is not enough...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published July 10th 2012 by IVP Books

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Apr 23, 2013 Clara Roberts rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a difficult book to read because it was critical of many of the people I admire. Guinness says that American freedoms rest on the Constitution, customs and manners and virtue (character)which are base on faith which he specifies as the Judeo-Christian faith. Guinness calls this the golden triangle. The loss of faith causes a decline in customs, manners and character. The results is a loss of freedom. He said that "all who aspire to be like Rome in their beginning must avoid being like R...more

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Jan 29, 2013 George Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” To which Franklin replied: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”[1] That question and Franklin’s reply cut to the heart of Os Guinness’s new book, A Free People’s Suicide.

According to Guinness, any society that wishes to be free must accomplish three tasks: win its freedom, order is freedom, and sustain its freedom. Americans commemorate the winning of ou...more At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” To which Franklin replied: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”[1] That question and Franklin’s reply cut to the heart of Os Guinness’s new book, A Free People’s Suicide.

According to Guinness, any society that wishes to be free must accomplish three tasks: win its freedom, order is freedom, and sustain its freedom. Americans commemorate the winning of our freedom on July 4, 1776, even though peace with Britain was not formalized until 1783. We commemorate the ordering of our freedom with the adoption (1787) and ratification (1789) of the Constitution. But sustaining our freedom is an unfinished and ongoing task.

Unfortunately, Guinness argues, “freedom has a chronic habit of undermining and destroying itself.” He notes three instances:

“When freedom runs to excess and breeds permissiveness and license.”
“When freedom so longs for its own security that its love of security undermines freedom.”
“When freedom becomes so caught up in its own glory that it justifies anything and everything done in its name, even such things as torture that contradict freedom.”

He then notes that “the last decade has displayed clear examples of each of these corruptions writ large in American culture and in American foreign policy.”

Now, Guinness is a Brit, so it’s easy—too easy—for freedom-loving patriots to dismiss his analysis as so much anti-American twaddle. But Guinness is an America-loving Brit. He doesn’t critique America in order to defame it but to improve it. Indeed, he argues that the sustainability of our freedom depends on our ability to appropriate the wisdom of the Founders for the present day.

A crucial component of that wisdom is what Guinness calls “the Golden Triangle of Freedom”: “Freedom requires virtue, which in turn requires faith of some sort, which in turn requires freedom.” The Constitution cannot secure American freedom in the absence of the character of its citizens. A government for free people requires self-government. But the source of self-government transcends the self and cannot be appropriated by means of coercion. Freedom requires virtue requires faith requires freedom. These qualities are symbiotic and mutually reinforcing.

Like Abraham Lincoln, Guinness doubts that America can be conquered by external foes. In Lincoln’s words, “As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” Rather, the real threat to the American experiment in ordered liberty is internal. In Guinness’s pithy words, “The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor.” Sustainable freedom begins with renewal at the level of our nation’s moral foundation.

If I have any criticism of this otherwise excellent book, it is that Guinness, like the American Founders before him, is vague about the faith that virtue requires. Freedom requires virtue which requires faith of some sort. Those last three words should remind Christian readers—Guinness himself is an evangelical, and IVP Books is an evangelical publishing house—that Americans have always viewed religion in terms of social utility and been hesitant in the face of exclusive truth claims or spiritual practices. Christians in America, then, can contribute to the sustenance of their nation’s freedom, but must beware lest their Kingdom agenda be sacrificed upon a national altar.(less)

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Nov 04, 2012 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this book, the author argues that America is founded upon the idea of "sustainable freedom," that is, a freedom where Americans restrain themselves and their immediate desires in pursuit of longer-term goals. He discusses history and how the founding fathers had this view of American life, and how they intended for American citizens to be informed by virtue. Then, he discusses how Americans have lost this vision, and how this explains our contemporary decline, and how it may lead our society...more In this book, the author argues that America is founded upon the idea of "sustainable freedom," that is, a freedom where Americans restrain themselves and their immediate desires in pursuit of longer-term goals. He discusses history and how the founding fathers had this view of American life, and how they intended for American citizens to be informed by virtue. Then, he discusses how Americans have lost this vision, and how this explains our contemporary decline, and how it may lead our society to go the way of ancient Rome. Overall, he makes a strong argument for his views, and presents a complicated subject in a manner accessible to the average reader.

However, he leaves many questions unanswered. He talks about how the founding fathers saw religion as necessary to virtue, and virtue as necessary to preserving liberty. However, he never presents a vision for how to promote either faith or virtue in contemporary America, aside from saying it is not the role of the government to do so. While I agree with him, it is not clear what course of action he is recommending.

The author is critical of the utopian strain in American foreign policy, but he never provides an adequate framework for what American foreign policy should be like. He complains about American interventions overseas, but never discusses the fact that much of the world, while criticizing American actions, looks to the United States for leadership on various global problems. Does the author think that the U.S. should continue to provide leadership on these problems? Should the U.S. seek to empower the U.N. or another international organization to find solutions? Should America just leave other countries to themselves to sort out their own problems? It isn't clear from this book what course the author would recommend instead of the current confusion.

Although the author never says it succinctly, it appears to me that America at the time of the founding had a more robust civil society than currently exists, and this civil society produced habits of the heart within Americans that allowed society to flourish. However, with the growth of the state, civil society has lost much of its influence over contemporary America. Unfortunately, the author never provides any suggestions for how to restore what has been lost. However, he does make an impassioned plea to understand the problem and the consequences of inaction, and for that reason, the book is a worthwhile read.(less)

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Apr 23, 2013 Jon Sedlak rated it 3 of 5 stars

Os Guinness is a superb artist with words. His knowledge of world history, both modern and ancient, is impressive as well. This book contains a lot of unique insights concerning America and its developing history as an empire, all of which illuminate many basic problems which keep it's traces of "true freedom" from being sustained in its present form. He sheds light on problems which have been around since the founding of the nation, some which have evolved since then, and some which are entirel...more Os Guinness is a superb artist with words. His knowledge of world history, both modern and ancient, is impressive as well. This book contains a lot of unique insights concerning America and its developing history as an empire, all of which illuminate many basic problems which keep it's traces of "true freedom" from being sustained in its present form. He sheds light on problems which have been around since the founding of the nation, some which have evolved since then, and some which are entirely new to the 21st century. All in all, I have read other books which touch upon this subject, and in a limited sense are like this one, but none which have focused entirely upon "freedom" in principle and sustaining that which is true concerning the traditional multi-faceted American views about it. Guinness does not bring in any childish name-calling or rhetorical invectives. As always, his thoughts are well-balanced and considerate of opposing viewpoints.

The weakness of this book, in my mind, is that he presents no absolute, objective standard for virtue, morality, and ethics other than repeating general references to the virtuous Christian religion and Christians within that religion. This is the book's weakest link. For all of his colorful artistic expressions of truth, virtue, and character, this book merely explains how America got to where it is today as an empire of "freedom" and why America needs to sustain "true freedom" (and not just its notion of "true freedom") according to Christian principles. Guinness does not attempt to explain how those principles (specifically) can or should be applied. Every outlined solution is at best general in its description. And so, at best, this book is extremely readable and great for convincing people of America's dire circumstances as an empire promoting true freedom, and is also a fantastic reference for pungent quotes and ideas concerning America's past and future. At worst, it is explicitly standard-less, which irritates my literary tastebuds somewhat. That's why I only gave it three stars.

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Aug 25, 2012 Elliot rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, history, cultural-studies

We Americans love to talk about freedom.

We call ourselves “the land of the free”; our Declaration of Independence talks about liberty as an “inalienable right”; there are still few things that can get an American riled up like the threat of a loss of freedom.

But our freedom is in jeopardy, says Os Guinness in his new book, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future. Guinness doesn’t find the primary threat to our freedom in an external source, like another nation, or ev...more We Americans love to talk about freedom.

We call ourselves “the land of the free”; our Declaration of Independence talks about liberty as an “inalienable right”; there are still few things that can get an American riled up like the threat of a loss of freedom.

But our freedom is in jeopardy, says Os Guinness in his new book, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future. Guinness doesn’t find the primary threat to our freedom in an external source, like another nation, or even “big government” or “big business” or special interests. No, the enemy is us. Freedom cannot be won for all time and then left alone; it needs to be sustained. And, Guinness writes, Americans are failing to sustain the freedom our nation’s founders worked so hard to win: “The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor. Powerful free people die only by their own hand, and free people have no one to blame but themselves” (37). The vision of freedom we Americans are pursuing is “short-lived and suicidal” (29).

(Side note: The title A Free People’s Suicide might seem bombastic, but it comes from a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”)

The problem with our vision of freedom is that the freedom we love to talk about and claim for ourselves focuses exclusively on freedom from external constraints. There are two kinds of freedom: freedom from constraint (negative freedom) and freedom for cultivating virtue and becoming the people we ought to be (positive freedom). Modern Americans are only interested in negative freedom. We claim rights and entitlements for ourselves, but do not care about duty, virtue, character, or pursuing excellence. Negative freedom alone is unsustainable. Freedom from external restraint, without self-restraint, undermines itself.

What can be done? Guinness argues that we need to return to the founders’ vision of freedom, which he calls the “Golden Triangle of Freedom.” He demonstrates that the founders did not have a vision of freedom that stopped with freedom from constraint. Rather, their vision of freedom was part of an interdependent triangle: freedom requires virtue; virtue requires faith; faith requires freedom.

Perhaps the most controversial part of this triangle of freedom in our time is faith (Eric Metaxas wrote a good review of this book in the Christian Post focusing on this point). The point for Guinness, and I agree, is not necessarily that the founders were Christians (though some were). Rather, the point is that the founders (even the Deists) were unanimous in their approval of faith of any kind, because faith fosters virtue, and only a virtuous people can remain free.

Guinness’ book is intended not just for Christians or religious people, but for all Americans who care about freedom. For that reason, I understand his arguing for faith as part of the golden triangle of freedom on pragmatic grounds (he follows the founders in adopting this tactic). Nevertheless, I think his argument ought to have particular force for Christians. The Bible also understands freedom as not merely freedom from constraint.

Six times in the book of Exodus, God says, “Let my people go so that they may serve me.” (Exod 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3). Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8;36), but he also said, “Take my yoke upon you” (Matt 11:29). Freedom, for the Christian, can never be merely about freedom from external constraints. It begins with freedom from constraint, but doesn’t stop there. Christian freedom is not just freedom from, but freedom for: freedom to serve God and others. From a Christian perspective, those who begin by thinking freedom is merely the absence of external constraints end by becoming slaves to their own appetites: greed, lust, and desire for power.

I applaud Guinness’ effort to prod Americans to do the hard work of sustaining freedom. I hope his argument gains a wide hearing. In particular, I hope his argument gains traction among Christians, who are just as prone to only care about negative freedom as anyone else, but who have the least reason for doing so.

Note: Thanks to InterVarsity Press for a review copy.(less)

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Dec 10, 2012 Dianne Davidson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ah yes - a thinker who makes me think. ooooh, I like that! Here his topic is freedom and, clearly, this is a topic he has spend time thinking about at great length.
In his other writings, I had to follow a train of thought some distance before the ah-ha moment when I gain his point of view. That's not true of this book. He is passionate and clear in his message - that if we (as Americans and free) do not wake up and address the elements of our behavior in which freedom has gone amuck toward lice...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Edi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Well-researched and thoughtful treatise. Hypothesizing that a nation of laws is but one facet of what the founders had in mind, Guinness puts together observations of the moral mind-set that was present in the diverse gathering of men who first achieved freedom through the revolution, then ordered freedom through the establishment of the constitution and its tri-partite government. The sustainability of freedom is the sticking point, and he brings detailed discussion on how that might (or might...more

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May 08, 2013 Susie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book challenged me. It challenged me to think about our role in the world, to question our dealings with other nations, and to live in a way that will sustain freedom rather than being a part of its demise. I appreciate the "outsider's" view of America and what we need to do to improve our reputation in the world. As I was reading I truly felt sorrow over many things that we have not only allowed to happen but at times supported the wrong decisions.

This book also encouraged me. It encourage...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, nonfiction

I won a free copy through First Reads. Please note that all quotes and page references are in regards to the ARC and not the final, published edition.

To be completely honest, I was not able to read every single page of this book. I read it over quite a few months and it was a struggle to get through 5 pages at a time. I think Os Guinness had a good idea when he set out to write this. I appreciated the outsiders view of my country. I did, in fact, agree with a lot of his sentiments regarding how...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Zahra rated it 3 of 5 stars

I won this book in Goodreads First Reads.

America, the land that is notorious for its freedom and mission to spread that same freedom to every corner of the world. We often misconstrue and take advantage of the rights that each individual is given and this book reminds us of exactly that. This book basically tells us Americans that "Hey, our forefathers in no way meant modern America to be so corrupted and misinformed, but it's okay because we are "free". What is freedom anyway? This book redefin...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Gulab rated it 1 of 5 stars

The theme is a good one - the responsibility that goes with freedom. I noticed the book was mentioned in the inauguration - so someone must be reading it. The style is a bit too much over the top hyperbole for me, but the basic idea is sound. The problem is that there seems to be just one idea and I am not sure it is going to sustain me through the whole thing.

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Sep 19, 2012 Jamie Nofsinger rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow, a must read for every American, especially in this election year. I think Guinness expressed exactly what is happening to the American experiment.

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Nov 18, 2012 Rick Perez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very informative, wonderfully insightful, historically rich and culturally relevant review of the current state of this Republic know as the United States of America. By British cultural critic Os Guinness.

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Mar 28, 2013 Tyler Hurst rated it 4 of 5 stars

Guinness made me want to be politically informed and active, which is quite a feet.

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Oct 07, 2012 Danmcgohan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very onformative. Orginal insight into the declining of the U.S. Thoughtful suggestions about correcting the decline, all from a noncitizen (British)

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Aug 04, 2012 Katrina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads-win

First Reads Win. Not something I would read on my own. It took me a bit to read about a week. I felt this book was very well researched. The author had some very good ways of putting things together. He was very detailed on many different things, such as, freedom. This book is very interesting. It is something I would have read for school and done a report on if I had knew about it during my high school days.

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Jul 28, 2012 Michael Brady marked it as to-read

Shelves: goodreads-giveaway

I am again (for the fourth time) a First Reads lucky winner. If you're not signing up for any book that might interest you in the First Reads program you're missing a nice little Goodreads membership bonus.

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Oct 10, 2012 Byron Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: worldview

Another great one by Os!

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Shelves: apologetics-worldview

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Apr 25, 2013 Ron Nelson rated it 5 of 5 stars

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About Os Guinness

Os Guinness (D.Phil., Oxford) is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including The American Hour, Time for Truth and The Case for Civility. A frequent speaker and prominent social critic, he was the founder of the Trinity Forum and has been a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies. He lives near Washi...more

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Books by Os Guinness

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life

Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think and What to Do about It

Time for Truth: Living Free in a World of Lies, Hype & Spin

Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance

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