On Life and Liberty

~ Occasional opinion pieces by Mark Shepard ~

Mark Shepard served two terms in the Vermont Senate (2003-2006) and ran for Congress in the 2006 Republican Primary (Shepard For Congress).

For a number of reasons, not the least of which is its small size, Vermont was targeted as a key beachhead by those desiring to move America away from its liberty-based birth, where the laws of nature and nature’s God were supreme, and toward socialism, where the state (man’s wisdom, such as it is) is supreme. It was in that environment that Mark ran and served in elected politics.

The efforts of recent years to move our national policy toward socialistic ideas is very much patterned after what happened in Vermont, where there has been a very serious exodus of businesses, young people and young families. And where today there is no political party standing strong on America’s founding principles, but rather each merely chases after power by playing on various human weaknesses to get votes.

Like so many other families and businesses in Vermont, in 2011 the Shepard family moved from Vermont. They moved to Virginia, where Mark's wife Rebecca was raised and where they were married in 1990.

  • "Why did God create us, if ...?" - December 16, 2018
  • "Answering Bernie Sanders Confusion; Legalizing abortion is NOT a limited-government position" - November 25, 2018
  • "A cleansed history cannot teach" - August 24, 2017
  • "Resurrecting M.A.D. – Fear-based elections" - October 2, 2016
  • "Federalism Trumps the Strongman" - March 21, 2016
  • "Republican Voters: Please look under the hood" - February 18, 2016
  • "The path to freedom and prosperity" - February 3, 2016
  • "McAuliffe owes apology ... and explanation" - December 15, 2015
  • "America’s 239 year trip – From liberty to decadence" - July 3, 2015
  • "Can we turn this country around just by voting?" - March 13, 2014
  • "Fighting natural laws is a losing battle" - March 20, 2011
  • "Fairytale Government" - July 15, 2010
  • "Stop bailing out poor judgment" - May 14, 2010
  • "The Court is Not Supreme" - March 11, 2010
  • "Converting Tea-Party Energy into Sustained Results" - January 18, 2010
  • "Is Christmas Relevant?" - December 11, 2009
  • "Marriage purpose matters" - March 7, 2009
  • "Out of the frying pan and into the fire - an open letter to U.S. Sen. Leahy" - January 31, 2009
  • "The End-Point of a Cultural War Matters" - November 28, 2008
  • "State-sponsored religion is very taxing" - April 26, 2007
  • "Experiences with young life" - January 8, 2002
  • "World poverty: How can America best help reduce it?" - October 30, 2001
  • "America - A way of life" - October 2, 2001
  • "Fear, Vengeance or Justice" - September 18, 2001

    Press coverage excerpts of 2006 Shepard for Congress race


  • The Foundation of Liberty
    By Robert Maynard