Just about every state has dealt with the issue over the last few years, it seems. But here in Ohio, the legal status of gambling is the issue that won’t go away. It’s on the ballot again in November, this time as a constitutional amendment to permit casinos in four cities. The issue is something of a dilemma for Christians with limited-government inclinations. In general we don’t want prohibitions on legitimate business activity or entertainment, and most Christians don’t consider...

Memo to documentary filmmaker Michael Moore: Free markets didn’t cause the financial crisis. The biggest culprits were government planners meddling with the market. That’s the message of Acton’s newest video short. So why on earth is Michael Moore (Capitalism: A Love Story, Sicko) so eager to route even more power and money through Washington? Centralized planning is economic poison. Doubling down isn’t the cure. (Also, Acton’s resource page on the economic crisis is here.) ...

Today is Constitution Day in the United States. It seems appropriate to remember especially this day the 10th Amendment to the Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. What a wonderful expression of federalism, ponent feature of which is the concept of subsidiarity, or rather, coordinated and variegated sovereignty. Lord Acton said that federalism “is the best curb...

The other day on this PowerBlog I posted “Learning To Tell The Truth” and ended the article with an observation: It may be instructive to note that the young female reporter who took part in the videos is named Hannah. For Jews the Biblical namesake is one of the prophetesses whose prayer is remembered at Rosh Hashanah [coming soon] and the mother of Samuel. You may recall that Samuel had problems with his succession choices. They weren’t sufficiently obedient to...

Last week when the videos were aired showing ACORN employees in their Baltimore and Washington DC offices consulting “a couple” pretending to be a pimp and prostitute I watched with amazement. On Saturday my wife sat at puter to see for herself. Busy in another room I could hear the rumbling of the adult’s conversation but what stood out was the unmistakable sound of little kids and the high pitched chatter and muffled squealing that characterizes children at play. That’s...

If it doesn’t faze you that Uncle Sam badly mishandled the stimulus porkanazaCongress would have directed bazillions to a surreally corrupt Acorn but for these two young heroesMichael Moore’s Sicko is WackoCanadians will no longer have a free market healthcare system to flee toGovernment-run health care will look and smell and feel like the Department of Motor Vehicles … with sharp needles and bedpansIf none of this has convinced you that a government-run healthcare system is a bad idea, then...

In a column in this past Saturday’s religion section, Charles Honey reflects on the second great mandment in the context of the national health care debate. Honey’s piece starts out on a very strong note, detailing the perspective of Dr. John Vander Kolk, director of a local non-profit initiative focused on the uninsured: “Where would we see Jesus in our culture?” asks the member of Ada Bible Church. “He would be down there with his sleeves rolled up, helping the...

Rev. Robert Sirico delivered a sermon titled “Whistling Past the Graveyard” at Mars Hill mega-church in Grand Rapids, Mich on September 20. You can listen to his sermon in its entirety by clicking on the sermon title above. Mars Hill was founded by Rob Bell in 1999. Rev. Sirico addressed Christology, mortality, atonement theology, and the problem of evil. In his remarks Rev. Sirico declared: And the vision of that hill, there on Golgotha’s bloody mount, is the answer to...

Well, at least the book is, anyway. The End of Secularism is now in stock at Acton.org and should be available in stores, too. Help me, faithful readers. I don’t think I’ll disappoint you. Francis Beckwith, David Dockery, Russell Moore, Father Robert Sirico, Herb London, Jennifer Morse Roback, and Glenn Stanton all liked it. I hope you will, too. Did you get the best part, by the way? FATHER ROBERT SIRICO. Here is his take on the book: The task...

In this mentary I argue that the shape of the debate over the public health care option over the next four years should focus on the critical role played by mediating institutions of civil society: charities, churches, and voluntary organizations. While President Obama’s health care speech last week was in part intended to dispel myths about the proposed health care reforms, it perpetuated some myths of its own. Not least of these is the idea that “non-profit” must mean “governmentally-administered,”...