I recently expressed my reservations about David Platt’s approach to “radical Christianity,” noting that, outside of embracing certain Biblical constraints (e.g. tithing), we should be wary of cramming God’s will into our own cookie-cutter molds for how wealth should be carved up and divvied out. In this month’s cover story inChristianity Today, my good friend Matthew Lee Anderson of Mere Orthodoxy does a nice job of summarizing some additional issues surrounding the broader array of “radical Christianity” books and movements....

Religious groups seeking to serve myriad liberal agendas during the 2013 shareholder proxy resolution season look no further than As You Sow, a group dedicated to “large-scale systemic change by establishing sustainable and equitable corporate practices.” AYS will unveil its Proxy Preview on March 7. Trumpeted as the “Bible for socially progressive foundations, religious groups, pension funds, and tax-exempt organizations” by the Chicago Tribune, this year’s preview predictably includes such “issues” as hydraulic fracturing; e-waste recycling; waste disposal; and pushing...

Samuel Gregg recently spoke with Marie Stroughter from African-American Conservatives. They discuss Gregg’s new book, ing Europe: Economic Decline, Culture, and How America Can Avoid a European Future. Stroughter asked Gregg about the dichotomy between “cuddle capitalism” (the European social model) and a dynamic market economy. Gregg says that Americans are more and more choosing a ‘Europeanized’ economy favoring security over economic liberty. Listen to the full audio here: [Audio: You can purchase the hardcover or eBook version of ing...

In a recent issue of Metropolis Magazine, Thomas de Monchaux tells the story of an amazing lesson about innovation that Americans can learn from Rwandans. This is no surprise, but readers will learn that burdensome government regulations stifle innovation and undermine human flourishing. De Monchaux recounts the story of Michael Murphy, executive director and co-founder of the Boston-based MASS Design Group, and Alan Ricks, MASS cofounder and COO, attempting to take what they learned from building health care facilitates and...

I’m just back from the republic of Texas and Acton’s Toward a Free and Virtuous Society conference. One of my fellow lecturers was Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Ben Phillips. In between sessions, he showed me a recent Houston television news piece on SWBTS’s Darrington prison extension, where Phillips and other Southwestern profs are bringing prisoners to Christ, with a plan to send graduates of the program to other Texas prisons. Many of these men may grow old and die...

Update: Video Interview with Kishore from Rome. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith As the world awaits the beginning of the conclave, many are looking at non European Cardinals as potentials for the next pope. Channel News Asia points out that “68 per cent of the world’s Catholics currently from Latin America, Africa and Asia, there are increased calls for the next pope to be a non-European.” They asked Kishore Jayabalan, director of Acton’s Rome Office, to offer his thoughts on non Europeans...

At Ethika Politika today, I examine the recent critique by David Bentley Hart in the most recent issue ofFirst Things of the use of natural law in public discourse in my article, “Natural Law, Public Policy, and the Uncanny Voice of Conscience.” Ultimately, I offer a measured critique—somewhat agreeing with, but mostly critical of Hart’s position—pointing out Hart’s oversight of the vital role of conscience in classic natural law theory. What I find so bizarre, and have for some time...

At Fieldnotes Magazine, Matthew Kaemingk has an excellent article on why Christians should care about intermediary institutions: When presented with almost any social problem (education, health care, poverty, family life, and so on), today’s leaders typically point to one of two possible solutions—a freer market or a stronger state. But in opposition to these rather myopic solutions, I think there is a plex and biblical lens through which leaders can consider the social eco-system and the people who move around...

After nearly 13 hours of speaking in an attempt to stall the confirmation of CIA Director nominee John Brennan, Sen. Rand Paul ended his filibuster. The filibuster is a grandiose method of legislative stalling, requiring the speaker to hold the floor, talking the entire time and not sitting down. In essence, one tries to talk a bill to death. The most famous fictitious depiction of the filibuster is probably is Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Paul Rand, as...

In today’s The Detroit News, the Rev. Robert Sirico seeks to set aside some of the rumors, skewered Hollywood depictions, and media predictions that swirl around any papal conclave. Of course, this time is decidedly different, as the cardinals ing together not after the death of a pope, but one’s retirement. There is much talk throughout all the Church as to whom the next pope will be, and as Fr. Sirico points out, “[n]o one, not even the most well-informed...