Confirm truth
In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd boy was looking for a lost goat near the Dead Sea. He threw a rock into a cave and heard something shatter. When he investigated, he found clay jars containing scrolls that had been hidden for almost two thousand years.
The scrolls were discovered in eleven caves around Qumran. They contained biblical texts, commentaries, and community rules. These documents confirmed the accuracy of Scripture we read today and revealed how a community of truth-seekers lived.
The Qumran community didn’t just preserve truth. They built their lives around discovering it, testing it, and protecting it from corruption. They understood something most people today have forgotten - that truth is worth fighting for. Worth sacrificing for. Worth building your life around.
They were so committed to preserving truth that they hid these scrolls in caves, sealed in jars, protected from the elements and from those who would destroy them.
Just as the Qumran community tested every text against the standard of truth, 4Q Scrolls invites you to test people’s claims - including your own - against four cornerstone questions before you make decisions or build your life on them.
What 4Q Scrolls is
4Q Scrolls is a critical thinking process. Critical thinking is the disciplined practice of questioning assumptions, evaluating facts and evidence, and reasoning clearly to reach sound conclusions grounded in truth - rather than accepting information at face value or defaulting to emotion, bias, or habit.
The desired outcome is to find the best solution based on facts, truth, and what is best for the common good over the long term.
The 4Q Scrolls process serves an individual, a group or a nation.
The name
The “4” names the four questions, which act as cornerstones that support a foundation of truth. Like the cornerstones of a building, each one must be solidly placed. If one fails, the reliability of the solution is weakened or will not stand.
The “Q” stands for Questions. More importantly, “Q Scrolls” refers to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and to the patient, diligent work the Qumran community practiced - confirming truth and living it out. Scholars label every scroll from Qumran’s richest cave with the prefix 4Q. The name of this process was prepared for us.
How the process works
Every 4Q Scrolls inquiry begins by naming what is being examined. Three steps come before the four questions are asked.
ISSUE
The general area of the problem or solution. Simple Liberty organizes its work into eight Issues: Republic, Culture, Economy, Elections, Environment, Health, Justice, and Security. (link)
Issues can be very broad. When they are, it helps to organize Topics within them.
TOPIC
A narrower area within an Issue. Simple Liberty examines 53 Topics across all eight Issues (as of July 2026). For example, the Topics of Elections are Campaign Finance, District Integrity, Election Integrity, Primaries, and Voting Access. (link)
To understand a Topic, you consider one Claim at a time.
CLAIM
The core assertion made by an individual or group, to be tested against alternatives. A Claim within Election Integrity is: Government-issued photo ID and signature verification should be required at the time of voting.
To be tested, a Claim must be clear, direct, and one idea - stated precisely. Then you can list its Sub-Claims and counterclaims in order of importance, and work through them.
SUB-CLAIM
A load-bearing premise beneath a Claim. Every Sub-Claim must hold for the Claim to stand. Competing Claims are alternatives - one may be right where another is wrong. Sub-Claims are not alternatives. They are the supports.
NOTE: Your data can evolve at any time - new or renamed Issues, Topics, Claims, Sub-Claims, facts, and conclusions to the four questions.
The four questions
Each question has two parts. The first word, in capitals, names the category - drawn from classic debate vocabulary, the CWEI model, and critical thinking models. Each word is followed by its 4Q Scrolls question.
Q1 - MEANING | What do you mean?
Meaning questions ask or research what the person or group means by their claim.
In conversation, use active listening skills. Ask. Listen. Repeat back a summary to confirm understanding. Repeat the process - as needed - until you understand their claim.
When doing research, follow a similar process using AI. Word your prompts carefully. Free courses on using AI well are available from major universities and AI providers.
The outcome is to sincerely consider their opinion and understand their claim.
Q2 - EVIDENCE | Why do you believe that’s true?
Evidence questions ask or research why they believe their claim is true. Be alert - partial truths, exaggerations, assumptions, and lies are not evidence that support a claim.
If you are in a conversation - and it’s appropriate - use active listening skills again to confirm your understanding. Do not judge. Do not try to change their mind. Thank them for their candor.
Then, on your own, do your research.
The outcome is to respectfully understand their reasoning.
Q3 - IMPACT | Who and what are affected?
Impact questions consider what happens if the claim becomes reality - who and what are affected. It measures the change based on need, magnitude, probability it will occur as expected, and the time it will take to implement.
Every choice for something is a choice against something else. Every decision carries positive and negative outcomes - large or small.
The outcome is to consider the true effects of the claim.
Q4 - SOLUTION | What is best for the long-term common good?
Solution questions confirm the best way to serve the common good based on the facts. The solution may differ from the claim.
This step combines the data of the Meaning, Evidence, and Impact questions - including your research - to confirm that the facts from history, credible sources, and reputable testing or studies support your conclusions.
The outcome is to name the solution the facts support.
Want to see it?
We are just getting started.
Check out our process in The Commons.
Do you like The Commons, but want more?
Volunteer: Help us expand our library of Issues and proposed solutions. Email info@simpleliberty.com with your full name and three ways you’d like Simple Liberty to serve the common good of all Americans.
We will train and support your work on claims that interest you most, and are aligned with our purpose.
Why we show our work
Because you should carefully consider claims, not instantly accept them based on assumption, personal bias, or being sold opinions and manipulated facts.
Be honest about your own biases - the experiences and grievances that shape how you read and react to facts and experiences. Others have theirs, too. Recognizing this in yourself is the first step to thinking clearly.
Our research (Evidence) is public - at publication, and as it is updated. You can read the meaning, check the evidence, weigh the impact, and decide for yourself whether our proposed solution follows.
If it does not, tell us. (Members can join discussions.) If you have a fact we missed, confirm it is fact - not opinion - and send it.
We will edit our Issues section - the meanings, evidence, impacts, and proposed solutions - based on new facts.
We have to do so, for us to stay true to our standard: Based on confirmed facts, what is best for the common good of all Americans?
Truth grows stronger when it is tested by people committed to finding the best way, doing the right thing, and demonstrating everyone matters equally.
We can do this.
