The West's Feet of Clay : Transmuting the Pillars of Liberty from Gold into Dross

This study seeks to support the centrality of the Judeo-Christian heritage to the growth and sustenance of liberty, a form of individualism limited by moral values. The pillars of liberty -- self-government, private property, representative government, and limited government -- reflect the structural contributions made by the Judeo-Christian heritage. Unfortunately, much of Western civilization suffers from a spiritual crisis, which has introduced and exacerbated fractures in the pillars. Pitirim Sorokin's social and cultural analysis of Western civilization provides a framework to better understand the fractures evident in the history of liberty in Europe and America, and developed in each pillar of liberty -- fractures that reaffirm liberty's dependency upon the Judeo-Christian heritage.