True Politics of Joy: Trump and the Return of Natural Law

Nick Spencer

The Natural Law Finds A WaySometimes Through An Unexpected Vessel

In a piece entitled “Kamala Harris and the New Politics of Joy,” Errol Louis of New York Magazine proudly declared that Vice President Kamala Harris was the one and only candidate on the ballot who could bring joy and contentment back to American life and political discourse. This assertion was shared by former President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and Al Sharpton, three individuals clearly qualified to tell American voters what constitutes healthy discourse and a pleasant disposition. 

Juxtapose a Vice President who was always laughing and dancing and a running mate who was portrayed as your average, folksy midwestern football coach with a man whose scowling mugshot became a fixture of the campaign cycle, and the outcome should be obvious. If you want to “turn the page” and wake up in the morning happy and proud to be an American, then Kamala Harris is the one for you, right?

On November 5th, voters soundly rejected such claims. At his inauguration last week, Donald Trump described the beginning of his second term as the start of America’s “golden age.” While it may be too early to confirm such a declaration, it is becoming increasingly clear that the “politics of joy” promised by Kamala Harris is in fact being ushered in by the Trump-Vance Administration. 

What accounts for this “vibe shift” is not the result of President Trump’s personal demeanor—he is by all accounts the same type of individual he was during his first term—but rather the rational foundations upon which his policies rest. While the Biden administration was marked by policies that rejected sound reason, President Trump’s executive actions and his larger policy agenda return American governance to the moorings of natural law. 

I contend that this return is what accounts for the renewal and refreshment now taking place.

Natural Law, Political Flourishing, and Biden-Harris

A critical assertion of the natural law tradition is its correlation with human flourishing. Whether a classical natural law theorist like Thomas Aquinas, or a new natural law theorist like Robert George, all those who subscribe to natural law will affirm that a central reason for adherence is the resultant flourishing brought by securing life’s basic goods.

For example, the “success sequence” outlined by sociologist Brad Wilcox is an application of natural law and basic human reason to the life of the individual. By prioritizing basic goods such as knowledge, work, and family, and doing so in the right order, an individual can attain a greater degree of success and fulfillment. In the same way, political communities that operate on a respect for natural law will similarly experience a greater degree of flourishing.

The classical school of natural law—more explicit in its Christian foundations—gives greater expression as to why such flourishing occurs, as well as its connection with joy: natural law principles find their locus in God’s moral ordering and administration of the universe explicitly communicated in the Decalogue.

When one lives in accordance with that moral ordering, they are fulfilling man’s chief end in a limited yet important way. When a larger society is founded upon the same principles, that flourishing is dispersed more generally among the population.

Put simply, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz were writing the American people a check that they could not cash because the Harris-Walz ticket was committed to political principles antithetical to God’s design as expressed through natural law. When in the voting booth, Americans could not reconcile claims of exuberance and joy with the reality of the Biden-Harris administration.

They were told that Harris stood for joy despite four years of blatant hostility toward a rational understanding of gender and sexuality, the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death, parents who sought to wrestle control of their child’s education from the clutches of liberalism, and persons of sincere religious conviction—especially those who hold to an orthodox understanding of the Christian faith. Joy is never attainable on such grounds. 

As Scripture makes clear, God’s law should bring us great joy and delight (Psalm 119:16). Though unbelievers will not fully submit to God’s law, and their joyful experience of that law will be less than those found in Christ, believers and unbelievers can find a small taste of joy in common to the extent the natural law is respected and upheld within our society—something not realistically possible under the Biden-Harris or Harris-Walz administrations.

Practical Realities and Future Pathways

Consistent attacks against natural law principles sucked the life out of Americans. To borrow the words of Proverbs 17:22, it crushed the spirits of many. On November 5th, voters clearly associated the Trump-Vance ticket with the support of reason and common sense and handed them power in hopes of recovering pride in their nation and sanity in public discourse. Thus far, it would seem that the Trump-Vance administration has realized those hopes, and in doing so they have caused many to delight in America once again.

One practical way in which this renewal of spirit can be observed is through the comments of Vice President Vance at the recent March for Life in Washington, DC. He spoke at length about the desire of the new administration to make it easier to start and raise a family, their commitment to protecting pro-life individuals from government persecution—something that President Trump underscored by pardoning those prosecuted under the FACE Act—and the need to confront a falling birthrate with a culture of life. 

President Trump also signed hundreds of executive orders last week. Among them was one that restored common sense definitions of male and female while simultaneously recognizing fetal personhood. Another made it easier for the nation to enforce its current laws and protect its citizens from previously unchecked violence at the hands of illegal alien gangs. All of these things represent a considerable change from Biden and Harris and a shift back in favor of natural law principles which respect the basic goods of life and family.

Despite a fantastic first week, there are many things left to do if America’s political and cultural restoration is to continue. Lord willing, President Trump will make good on his promise to increase school choice options for parents, thereby enabling the nation’s children to better attain the basic good of knowledge without ideological indoctrination. 

Lord willing, we will see actions to rectify the mistreatment of religious individuals fired, demoted, or sidelined from promotions for failure to submit to vaccine mandates against their conscience.

Lord willing, we will see further federal action taken to protect children from the physical harm of gender-destroying medical care, upholding the basic good of bodily integrity. Trump has already made a significant step forward on this issue with his latest (and excellent) Executive Order on “Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation.”

Lord willing, policies will be enacted to ease the financial burden often associated with a mother staying home to care for her children instead of working. 

All of this and more remains to be done, but we can still find great reason to rejoice in those things that have already been accomplished to put America back on the path of the natural law. 

In full candor, I was somewhat skeptical about a second Trump term. I certainly understood that Kamala Harris represented a platform so extreme as to make voting for her presidency an act antithetical to not only natural law principles but also Gospel principles. That said, I was not fully confident that Trump was being entirely forthright with his motives, especially after some confusing comments concerning Florida’s Amendment 4. 

Despite those previous misgivings, I find myself feeling increasingly joyful with the state of American politics and culture these days. 

There are still many blemishes in our culture on which we must pray the light of Christ will shine in all its purifying glory, but all hope is not lost. With a joyous appreciation of God’s divine ordinances, America truly could enter into a golden era once again.

In the words of Vice President Vance, we “Go forth, not with frustration, but with joy.”

  • Nick Spencer serves as the Director of Public Policy for The Family Foundation of Kentucky, a state-level Family Policy Council dedicated to political lobbying according to conservative biblical values. Nick has previously served in full-time ministry positions within SBC churches, and holds a B.A. from Boyce College and M.Div. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a current Ph.D. candidate at Southern studying Christian Ethics and Public Theology.