RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
The Complicity of Silence
A second reporter has been killed by ISIS, Steven Sotloff. Women are being sold off as “brides.” Teen girls are raped repeatedly. Thousands are murdered. There are plenty of news reports, but in some quarters, the silence is deafening. Kathryn Jean Lopez asks what can we do, what must we do, in the face of evil, at National Review Online. I don’t want to have on my conscience that I plicit in something as horrendous as this simply by being...
Orthodoxy and Economic Liberty
In the most recent issue of The City, I have an essay on Orthodoxy and ordered liberty. I argue that Orthodox theological anthropology, which distinguishes between the image and likeness of God and two forms of freedom corresponding to them, fits well with the classical understanding of ordered liberty. In particular, I examine these freedoms with regards to the family, religious liberty, political liberty, and economic liberty, arguing that the Orthodox ascetic tradition has much to offer to modern Christian...
Video: Todd Huizinga on Russia and Ukraine.
Todd Huizinga, Acton Institute’s director of international outreach, was a guest analyst recently on Newsmakers, a public affairs program produced by WGVU television in Grand Rapids, Mich. Episode description from Aug. 22: “As tensions heighten between Russia and Ukraine, what is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s worldview and what role does Ukraine play in it? How has the shoot down of Malaysia Airline flight 17 killing 298 on board changed the dynamics of the conflict? We explore the internal and external...
Black Ribbon Day and the Victims of Communism
Lord Acton’s famous dictum, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” has been proven true time and time again throughout history, most vividly in totalitarian systems. The worldwide destruction caused munism is perhaps the prime example. According to The Black Book of munist regimes, inspired by Marxist-Leninist ideology, are responsible for nearly 100 million deaths (and counting). However, in contemporary times there seems to be a tendency to ignore this reality. In The Daily Beast article, “Communism’s Victims...
Radio Free Acton: Jordan Ballor on the Dignity of Our Work
In this week’s edition of Radio Free Acton, Paul Edwards es Acton Institute Research Fellow Jordan Ballor to the microphone for a discussion on the dignity of our work. Is it more Christian to be a minister than a muck farmer? Does the work of the farmer have spiritual value? Ballor and Edwards explore these questions and more in this podcast, which you can listen to via the audio player below. And if you haven’t done so already, check out...
RELIGION & LIBERTY
Editor’s note
The Houston-based Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) treats convicted criminals as if they were “raw metal in the hands of a blacksmith— crude, formless, and totally moldable.” PEP puts prisoners through a rigorous character training and business skills regimen to prepare them for a productive, even flourishing, reentry to life after incarceration. Ray Nothstine took part in PEP’s “pitch day” presentations where prisoners present their start-up dreams before a panel of business people and investors. In the main feature of...
Apr 30, 2026
How can I more deeply engage with Acton if I don’t live in West Michigan?
Acton has been blessed with a wonderful building in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids where we host dozens of events each year. Despite our presence in munity, most of Acton’s constituents live outside of West Michigan. If you’re one of those individuals, there are plenty of ways to engage with the institute or share Acton’s mission and message in your munity. Our online PowerBlog (blog.acton.org) features new blogposts daily, but you can also keep up with Radio Free...
Apr 30, 2026
Molding men, shaping futures: An interview with Bert Smith
The vast majority of prison ministries focus on evangelism and engage with inmates much as they would with any other mission project. The Houston-based Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP), which receives no state funding, is receiving national and international accolades for its unique integration of entrepreneurial skills and character transformation. Prisoners e to the program are treated much as a blacksmith takes a “crude, formless, and totally moldable” piece of metal and turns it into something useful, even beautiful. (See...
Apr 30, 2026
The burden of the Christian
Charles Malik is not a household name among educated Christians who stand for a free and virtuous society. Some may vaguely recall his name from his involvement in the formative period of the United Nations and the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But his name is often overshadowed either by more familiar personages, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, or by the way in which the Universal Declaration was used to justify a 1974 charter “to promote the...
Apr 30, 2026
What to expect at our university
For an adequate formation of a culture, the involvement of the whole man is required, whereby he exercises his creativity, intelligence, and knowledge of the world and of people. Furthermore, he displays his capacity for self-control, personal sacrifice, solidarity and readiness to promote mon good. Thus the first and most important task is plished within man’s heart. – Pope John Paul II, Centesimus Annus In about a month, we will be enjoying Acton’s annual assemblage, Acton University. We chose...
Apr 30, 2026
'Prison Entrepreneurs: From Shark Tank to Redemption'
Shortly after the day’s guests arrive at the East Texas prison, and well before they begin to mix with the inmates, they hear a low rumbling noise in the distance. As they make their way closer to the prison gymnasium, the low rumbling grows into a constant and thunderous clamor. For those making their first visit to the Cleveland Correctional Center, located 45 minutes north of Houston, the roar of the inmates’ husky voices is disconcerting—maybe even intimidating—as they...
Apr 30, 2026
Nature, markets, and human creativity
A review of Free Market Environmentalism for the Next Generation by Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal. (Palgrave Macmillan, January 2015). Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his statementfor the 2015 World Water Day makes a number of assertions that, while inspired by morally good ideals, are morally and practically problematic. Chief among them is his assertion “that environmental resources are God’s gift to the world” and so “cannot be either considered or exploited as private property.” While certainly not...
Apr 30, 2026
Isabel Paterson
In the Liberal Tradition Whoever is fortunate enough to be an American citizen came into the greatest inheritance man has ever enjoyed. He has had the benefit of every heroic and intellectual effort men have made for many thousands of years, realized at last. Journalist, philosopher, and literary critic Isabel Paterson may have faded into obscurity in the last few decades, but she is one of the greatest classical liberal thinkers of her time. She is lauded as one...
Apr 30, 2026
Double-edged sword: The power of the Word - John 19:33-34
John 19:33-34 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. One of the remarkable things about the risen and ascended Christ is that he still bears the marks of his death and suffering for humanity. Christ has truly made the Cross eternal with his physical body. Even when our...
Apr 30, 2026
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