Why do the majority of religious Jews and Christians believe in conservative ideas? The short answer is: for moral reasons. The core principles of modern conservatism—including the belief in free markets and free enterprise, traditional families and faith communities, sovereign nations that respect the rights and dignity of every person—are grounded in a moral vision of a worthy life and a good society. In the modern age, religious communities have a special responsibility to articulate and defend the moral case for conservatism in the public arena. This is an intellectual challenge—requiring the perpetual renewal of conservative thinking in light of new challenges, disruptions, and opportunities. And it is a civic challenge—requiring men and women of faith to sustain, renew, and build institutions that perpetuate and advance the moral vision that animates modern conservatism at its best. In this session, executive director of the Tikvah Fund, Eric Cohen, makes the Jewish case for federalism.

Eric Cohen

Eric Cohen is the President and CEO of Tikvah, where he has served in a leadership role since 2007. He is one of the founders and chairman of the board of Emet Classical Academy, and he has been involved in founding many publications, including the New Atlantis (where he continues to serve as editor-at-large), the Jewish Review of Books, and Mosaic magazine (where he serves as publisher). He was also instrumental in building Tikvah’s operations in Israel, and he serves on the board of directors of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Hertog Foundation. Mr. Cohen writes regularly in numerous academic and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers, and is the author of In the Shadow of Progress: Being Human in the Age of Technology (2008) and co-editor of The Future Is Now: America Confronts the New Genetics (2002). He was previously managing editor of the Public Interest and served as a senior advisor to the President’s Council on Bioethics.