The Calling To Great Objects: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

On October 7th, Faith & Law and Advancing American Freedom will host a lunch roundtable to discuss calling and the pursuit of timeless principles in relation to AAF’s newly released Independence Index, an assessment of how well Americans are exercising their unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

In 1787, Willam Wilberforce wrote in his journal that “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.” Perhaps what America needs most is for its citizens to recognize and pursue the great objects God has laid before each and every one of us.

Most problems Americans face in their daily lives, while often exacerbated by overreaching government policy, cannot be solved by government. Social ills like falling birth rates, out-of-wedlock births, and obesity cannot be solved without individuals making virtuous choices. Americans must not think of themselves as victims of reality but as agents of virtue and liberty. That is why, unlike most DC publications, the Independence Index is not primarily about policy solutions because only Americans exercising their liberty in virtue at the personal, familial, and community level can solve these problems.

If America is to survive and prosper for another 250 years, its citizens must work tirelessly to preserve virtue and liberty in their own lives and communities. We hope you will join us to discuss how we, as a moral citizenry aiming for virtue, can work to uphold American freedom.

Marc Wheat is the General Counsel for Advancing American Freedom, and has filed 104 Amicus Briefs (59 in the Supreme Court) representing 275 organizations across the full spectrum of the conservative movement.

Mr. Wheat got his start as an intern in the House of Representatives. He was a legislative assistant in a personal office, counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and staff director and chief counsel to the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources. He has also served in the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He is a member of the board of Faith and Law.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from Scalia Law School.