{"id":2626050,"date":"2026-07-07T12:23:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T12:25:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:25:38","slug":"new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue\/","title":{"rendered":"New Film Asks If America Can Survive Without Virtue"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2626050&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh article discusses the documentary titled *The Thread of Liberty: Keeping Our Republic*,produced by Ned Ryun. It examines whether America&#8217;s founding principles can endure without the virtue-especially the religious virtue-that the Founders believed was essential for self-governance. Narrated by Ryun adn featuring insights from historians like Victor Davis Hanson, Larry P.Arnn, and Roger Kimball, the film highlights the close relationship between liberty, faith, and national character.<\/p>\n<p>The documentary contrasts America&#8217;s current stability wiht the collapses of previous republics, emphasizing the historical importance of voluntary civic institutions rooted in religious virtue that fostered duty and community. It traces how progressive leaders in the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >20th century shifted responsibilities<\/a> from families, churches, and local communities to the federal government, weakening these essential institutions and undermining self-governance.<\/p>\n<p>A key point in the film is the example of George Washington\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jan-6-defendant-illegally-detained-held-80-days-without-indictment\/\" title=\"Jan 6 Defendant Illegally Detained, Held 80+ Days Without Indictment\">voluntary surrender<\/a> of power after the Revolution, illustrating leadership guided by virtue and faith. The film argues that the Constitution relies on a virtuous populace, wich historically was fostered by religious beliefs.As society becomes less religious, there is concern about the decline of virtue and its impact on the self-governing character of America.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the documentary prompts Americans to reflect on what might happen if the foundational virtue that sustains voluntary institutions and morality diminishes, raising questions about the future of the republic when the moral underpinnings erode. The film is available for streaming on YouTube.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?app=desktop&#038;v=4QNQx0-lMJQ&#038;ra=m>  American Majority\/ Youtube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/07\/new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=New Film Asks If America Can Survive Without Virtue&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/07\/new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=New Film Asks If America Can Survive Without Virtue&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/07\/new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/07\/new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=New Film Asks If America Can Survive Without Virtue&#038;body=A new documentary asks whether the republic can survive if it loses the very thing the Founders believed made self-governance possible? That is, virtue.%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/07\/new-film-asks-if-america-can-survive-without-virtue\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                     <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\">                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new documentary, <em>The Thread of Liberty: Keeping Our Republic<\/em>, produced by Ned Ryun, asks viewers whether the American republic can survive if it loses the very thing the Founders believed made self-governance possible. That is, virtue \u2014 virtue that stems from religious conviction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Narrated by Ryun and featuring historians and scholars including Victor Davis Hanson, Larry P. Arnn, and Roger Kimball, and others, the documentary explores the \u201cthread\u201d between liberty, faith, and national character. Rather than treating the Constitution as a self-executing document capable of preserving freedom on its own, the film argues that the Constitution and Declaration depend on a virtuous people who understand that their rights originate not from government, but from God. <\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1588614358\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The film opens by contrasting our current success with the collapse of all other republics that came before us \u2014 a poignant reminder the United States of America is not invincible. Rachel Bovard points to what Alexis de Tocqueville found nearly two centuries ago in <em>Democracy in America,<\/em> that is, America has this vast network of churches, charities, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/patrick-deneens-common-good-conservatism-manifesto\/\" title=\"Patrick Deneen&#039;s manifesto on Common-Good Conservatism.\">civic associations<\/a> and institutions that cultivated habits of responsibility and community. These voluntary  institutions allowed Americans to govern themselves, reducing the need for a big government because citizens voluntary acted with the type of virtue required to have ordered liberty. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The documentary argues that these institutions were indispensable to American life and a result of Americans\u2019 virtue that stemmed from religion. But what happens when government co-opts this very role?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Thread of Liberty: Keeping Our Republic<\/em> explains how the Progressive movement under Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and others steadily shifted the responsibility away from families, churches, local communities, and volunteers and instead toward the federal government. As those institutions because weak, so did the ability to self-govern that those institutions once helped sustain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another good moment in the film comes from a part on George Washington\u2019s voluntary surrender of power after the Revolution. After leading the army to victory, Washington resigned his commission and returned home. The movie argues this was the product of virtue Washington possessed <em>because<\/em> of the virtuous character of the nation because of faith. That is, Washington, like the colonists, believed humans are bound by something higher than political power. If rights come from God, power is temporary and rather meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The movie argues that if we remove that conviction, it becomes more difficult to create leaders who are willing to relinquish power voluntarily \u2014 something best exemplified by the rise and growth of the progressive administrative state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The film also reminds Americans of one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kentucky-costs-would-make-false-accusations-of-household-violence-and-sexual-assault-considered-during-infant-custody-disputes\/\" title=\"Kentucky Costs Would Make False Accusations Of Household Violence And Sexual Assault Considered During INFANT CUSTODY Disputes\">simple truth<\/a>: the Founders did not invent self-governance, they just codified it. But they were able to codify it because self-governance had deep roots in the colonies precisely because of the national character of the people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Constitution and Declaration, as <em>Thread of Liberty: Keeping Our Republic<\/em> points out, are tools the Founders left for us to continue self-governance, but that the Founders were unable to give us the virtues so indispensable for successful self-governance. Instead, religion would have to provide grounds for virtue. But what happens when people become less religious and therefore less virtuous?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Threads of Liberty: Keeping Our Republic<\/em> forces Americans to ask what happens \u2014 or what <em>will<\/em> happen \u2014 to our republic when the very thing that makes the voluntary self-governing institutions and morality possible disappear. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Thread of Liberty: Keeping Our Republic<\/em> <em>can be streamed on Youtube, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?app=desktop&#038;v=4QNQx0-lMJQ&#038;ra=m\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/fdr\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">FDR<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/limited-government\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">limited government<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/progressive\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Progressive<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/progressivism\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Progressivism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/religion\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Religion<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/virtue\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">virtue<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/woodrow-wilson\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Woodrow Wilson<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New documentary questions if America can survive without virtue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2626053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-10.55.51-AM-scaled-e1783436309685-1024x576.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[45884,5336,9484,54451,19335],"class_list":["post-2626050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-american-values","tag-film","tag-morality","tag-societal-decline","tag-virtue"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-10.55.51-AM-scaled-e1783436309685-1024x576.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2626050"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2626055,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626050\/revisions\/2626055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2626053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2626050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2626050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2626050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}