This Supreme Court justice issues a warning about Progressivism

This episode of America Out Loud Podcast Network, aired on May 8, 2026, centers on a powerful warning from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas about the dangers of progressivism to America's foundational principles. Host Malcolm Out Loud uses the National Day of Prayer as a thematic anchor to explore the historical continuity of religious expression in American public life, citing presidential proclamations from Washington to Truman and the founding era’s reliance on prayer and moral reflection. He contrasts this with the modern exclusion of prayer from public schools and the DOJ’s current investigations into religious expression in education, suggesting these actions stem from a broader cultural shift. The core of the episode is a deep dive into Thomas’s April speech at the University of Texas, where he argued that the Declaration of Independence is not a relic but a living moral proposition rooted in unalienable rights from God. He warned that progressivism—rooted in Woodrow Wilson and John Dewey—undermines this foundation by treating rights as fluid and state-defined rather than fixed and inherent. This redefinition, Thomas argues, enables authoritarian overreach, as seen in 20th-century totalitarian regimes, and erodes the moral clarity needed for genuine progress. The episode concludes with a call to civic responsibility: Americans must actively defend the Declaration’s principles daily, not just in words but in action, or risk losing the very foundation of liberty.