As I look back on 2024, I see many green shoots giving me hope for Western Civilization.

The United States Supreme Court appears poised to uphold a ban on the castration and mutilation of minors.

European nations have begun counting the cost of unchecked immigration and are recovering their sense of national identity, security, and sovereignty.

A U.S. administration that promoted abortion on demand, fringe sexual ideologies, and racial essentialism will be replaced with one promising to rein in bureaucratic corruption and make life more affordable for American families.

Pushbacks against crime, climate alarmism, and cancel culture are increasing in many parts of the West.

As 2025 approaches, let’s keep up the positive momentum. Here are four New Year’s resolutions that can help keep the West on a path of renewal.

1. Seek Honest Reporting

At the beginning of this year I reported on the “bloodbath” that is taking place in mainstream media, as major outlets face bankruptcies, walk-offs, and budget black holes.

Some of this reflects a quickly changing media landscape, where traditional platforms like newspapers and cable TV are being overshadowed by digital alternatives, social media, and independent content creators.

Undeniably, however, some of this bloodbath is a direct result of dishonest reporting and the resultant sharp decline in media trust.

With these realities in view, 2025 is a year to seek more honest reporting. The fact that you are reading an independent outlet like Intellectual Takeout suggests I may be preaching to the choir. But let me take this opportunity to encourage you to keep seeking out news and commentary that bypasses the spin and asks the deeper questions.

Also consider the outsized role that X (formerly Twitter) played in opening up truthful election discourse that was lacking in 2020. I am convinced historians will draw direct links between Elon Musk’s purchase and reform of the platform and the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

On balance, X predicted Trump’s re-election when the legacy media foresaw a Harris victory, or at best, a race too close to call. I follow a diverse array of journalists and reporters that I recently compiled into a list of the top 100 accounts to follow on X.

I encourage you to follow these accounts (and there are many more great ones out there) if you want to stay ahead of the curve on events in the new year and digest more honest news content.

2. Use Truthful Language

In my second paragraph above, I used the phrase “castration and mutilation of minors.” My intention was not to be provocative but truthful. The mainstream equivalent is “gender affirming care,” but this euphemism papers over the awful reality of what these poor children endure and what many of them live to regret.

Many terrible ideas have been advanced in Western countries using similar euphemistic disguises. Indeed, language is very often the first battlefront, but if we fail to defend on this front, our “enemies” (being bad ideas) can slip through undetected.

Once you see this linguistic battlefront, it’s impossible to unsee it. By way of more examples, consider that:

• “Hate speech” is often a euphemism for speech that one hates.
• “Misinformation” can signify opinions one disagrees with.
• “Climate crisis” generally means no debate is allowed.
• “Reproductive health care” is quite the opposite of both reproduction and health care.
• “Diversity, equity, and inclusion” tends to mean people must look different but think the same, and those who disagree are excluded!

I’d go as far as suggesting that many of the “culture wars” we see unfolding wouldn’t be taking place if commonsense Westerners first won these linguistic wars.

3. Read the Bible

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on an unexpected jump in Bible sales in America:

Worries about the economy, conflicts abroad and uncertainty over the election pushed readers toward the publication in droves. Bible sales are up 22% in the U.S. through the end of October, compared with the same period last year, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. By contrast, total U.S. print book sales were up less than 1% in that period.

What’s especially encouraging about this trend is that it appears to be driven largely by first-time buyers.

Over recent years, it has been fascinating to watch a string of influential commentators—whether Jordan Peterson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Tom Holland, or Douglas Murray—identify the Bible as the founding document of Western Civilization and embark on journeys of discovery through Scripture. In fact, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has recently converted to Christianity, as has Russel Brand, whose spiritual trajectory has been especially encouraging to observe.

One doesn’t need to be a Christian to recognize the importance of the biblical text and its astounding influence on Western values and achievements.

So if it’s been a while since you picked up a Bible, dust it off and discover the story of creation in Genesis, see Jesus through fresh eyes in John’s Gospel, read a Psalm a day, or be encouraged by one of Paul’s Epistles. There is timeless values in these pages—and just as the Bible shaped an entire civilization, it will doubtless shape any individual who approaches it with an open mind.

4. Love Your Family

One of the quotes I have lived by in recent years is the directive often attributed to Mother Teresa: “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”

There are many ways that each of us can change the world, but what does it matter if there is strife on the home front and turmoil in our closest relationships? If the West is to be revived, it won’t happen from the top down, but rather from the inside out, beginning with each one of us.

The other night some friends who are about to get married asked me if I had any sage advice. I told them to make sure they keep dating long after they get married. My wife and I are in our fifth year of marriage, and we’re expecting our second child in January. But none of that stops us from setting aside time to just enjoy being together. That’s why we fell in love and got married in the first place, so why would we quit after tying the knot?

Whatever it takes, be with the ones you love. Prioritize your closest relationships. Apologize and make amends if necessary. Invest in the things that really matter.

That alone, on a mass scale, would see our civilization transform.

Do you have any additional New Year’s resolutions you’d add to this list? Let us know in the comments section below.

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