Samuel Gregg, Acton’s director of research, recently wrote about the plicated relationship” between religious freedom and business. While there may not seem like a natural connection between these two concepts, Gregg points out that, especially recently, we are seeing a number of businesses “impacted by apparent infringements of religious liberty.” He goes on to discuss just plicated this relationship is: Until relatively late in the modern era, most Jews in Europe were legally prohibited from formal involvement in political life...

In an interview forChristianity Today, Joseph Gorra, founder and director of Veritas Life Center, talks to Acton’s president and co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico about economic life and human flourishing: At this year’s Acton University conference, you spoke on how love is an indispensable basis for economic life. To some, that might seem odd if economic life is viewed as the maximization of utility and material well-being. We can’t enter the marketplace as something other than what we really are, and...

“By putting male and female together as the image of God, there’s something very powerful being said about the rest of creation… about how the male and female together have the task of bringing the love and life and stewardship and care of creation of God into the rest of the world.” –N.T. Wright Christians believe that all humans are created in the image of God, a notion that shapes our understanding of human dignity and transforms our view of...

Today at Public Discourse, I examine recent data that strongly suggests that “freedom from government restrictions on religion often paves the way for economic liberty.” I write, Thus, we can say that if someone wishes to promote economic liberty worldwide, one should not neglect to encourage religious liberty at the same time. This requires facing the challenges of any given country’s religious context and history, while underscoring the importance of interreligious studies for international economic development efforts. These findings also...

The United Nations has just published its State of the World Population Report 2014, “1.8 Billion Strong: Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future.” I always enjoy a good read from the United Nations, and this does not fail to provide much fodder for discussion. The U.N. is very pro-young people. Youth are capable of great things. Our world needs their intelligence, their spirit, their intelligence, their innovation. The report is full of photos of beautiful and vibrant young...

For many people the holiday season is their favorite time of the year. But for the 9 million Americans who are currently unemployed, this can be an especially difficult time. The feeling of hopelessness and despair that e with looking for work often increase with the approach of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Lauren L. Moy was recently unemployed during Thanksgiving and recallsthefeelings of awkwardness when meeting with friends and relatives over the holidays. Moyoffers mendations for how to deal with unemployment...

Today the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released their 2014 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. “Unfortunately, the report shows there is no place in the world where children, women and men are safe from human trafficking,” said UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov “Official data reported to UNODC by national authorities represent only what has been detected. It is very clear that the scale of modern-day slavery is far worse.” Here are seven figures you should know...

Let’s face it – if not for genetically modified organisms, many of us wouldn’t be celebrating Thanksgiving in the traditional sense. Instead of turkey, cranberries and sweet potatoes, we’d be reduced to something far less appealing such as, say, Beans-and-Franksgiving. Unfortunately, some shareholder activists – including those affiliated with As You Sow – work long hours to ensure GMOs are eliminated as a dinner option. According to the AYS website: The genetic modification or engineering of plants and animals has...

My favorite psychology professor, when I was an undergrad, had a saying: “We are all more alike than we are different.” While most of us would never know the horror of paranoid psychosis, he said, we all know the fear of walking into a room and thinking, “Why is everyone looking at me? Is something wrong?” It’s in this realization of mon human experiences that we could begin to see even the most ill person in passionate manner. It seems...

While it may not seem like it when you’re at the supermarket checkout, Americans benefit tremendously from relatively low food prices. Consider the typical Thanksgiving feast. According to an informal price survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving meal for ten people is $49.41—less than $5 per person. The AFBF survey shopping list includes turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery,...