The German emigre and political philosopher Leo Strauss once remarked that “one of the most conservative groups in this country is called the Daughters of the American Revolution.” Its membership has historically been restricted to women who can trace their ancestry to those who assisted the effort for American Independence.

The organization was founded in 1890. In 2025, it is unwilling to accept biological reality. Fox News reports that the national-level organization recently rejected a proposal from a local chapter to amend its bylaws so that men who identify as women cannot become members. The national organization claims it fears a loss of tax-exempt status. Laura McDonald, who belongs to the local chapter that led the challenge, tried to argue that this fear is misguided — and perhaps even pretextual. McDonald plans to continue the fight.

Strauss died in 1973, so he is not available to comment on this development. But perhaps he already has. The following is from Strauss’s Natural Right and History, published in 1953, and describes the consequences of rejecting the possibility that “men can know what is good”:

Once we realize that the principles of our actions have no other support than our blind choice, we really do not believe in them any more. We cannot wholeheartedly act upon them any more. We cannot live any more as responsible beings. In order to live, we have to silence the easily silenced voice of reason, which tells us that our principles are in themselves as good or as bad as any other principles. The more we cultivate reason, the more we cultivate nihilism: the less are we able to be loyal members of society. The inescapable practical consequence of nihilism is fanatical obscurantism.