Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY
/
Editor's note
Editor's note
Aug 14, 2026 2:42 AM

In getting to know Uwe Siemon-Netto, I learned that one of his most admirable qualities is his willingness to speak his mind and stand clearly for truth amid a drifting promising culture. I'm sure he'd think nothing of plimentary view of his character given all he has seen and plished. His life reminds me of the popular song "I've Been Everywhere," first made popular in America by the country singer Hank Snow. Siemon-Netto has been all over the world as a journalist covering many of the biggest and most chaotic events of the twentieth century.

As readers will see in this issue's interview, Siemon-Netto's life in journalism gives him added insight as a theologian. As a journalist and theologian, he sees deeply into many of the problems that plague the media today. As somebody who enjoys studying military history, I appreciate Siemon-Netto's willingness to discuss what has e a narrow and flawed history of America's war in Vietnam. He covered the war as a reporter for five years and has written an excellent memoir titled, Triumph of the Absurd: A Reporter's Love for the People of Vietnam. As a leading Lutheran theologian, his insight and study of Luther's doctrine of vocation is, I would argue, essential for today's culture.

After reading an excellent piece on John Milton and liberty in the Journal of Markets & Morality, I asked the author, David Urban, to offer us a version for Religion & Liberty. Urban is a professor of English at Calvin College and delves into Milton's elevation of virtue as a chief requirement for liberty.

Mark S. Latkovic reviews Charles Murray's The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead, and Matthea Brandenburg reviews The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty by Nina Munk. The book by Munk is a thorough examination of the problems with aid and high-minded theories for ending poverty in Africa. Writing in Barron's, William Easterly titled his review "The Arrogance of Good Intentions."

For "In the Liberal Tradition," R&L profiles the Lebanese diplomat Charles Malik (1906-1986). Malik drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and served as the president of the thirteenth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Many of you have had the chance to visit our new and impressive headquarters. Acton's Kris Mauren provides an update on the capital fundraising campaign that made our move possible. He also touches on some new investments that will expand Acton's outreach thanks to our many generous supporters.

Ray Nothstine

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY
Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor
An interesting phenomenon of recent years has been the relative ease with which many former Communist parties around the globe have successfully reinvented themselves as “social democrats,” often with strong “environmentalist” stances. What is disturbing about the eback of the cadres is that they are preaching essentially the same illiberal, anti-humanistic, and anti-entrepreneurial message, albeit this time under the banner of “scientific” environmental responsibility rather than Marxist historical imperative. This is disconcerting particularly when one recalls Pope John Paul...
If Aristotle Ran General Motors
Very rarely does a book of extraordinary insight, expressed in understandable terms, appear. This is one of those books. In it, Thomas Morris applies to everyday business conditions not only the wisdom of Aristotle but also the thoughts of other great philosophers. In doing so, he demonstrates that the ethical way in business helps the firm, the individual, and the economy in general achieve their goals. Following Aristotle, Morris first observes that each business organization is prised of people,...
Discovering the Weight of Glory
According to C. S. Lewis, “there are no ordinary people.” As he wrote, “it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit–immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” The question is, in which direction are we encouraging them? If Gilbert Meilaender is correct–and he offers plenty to persuade us in this re-release of The Taste for the Other–Lewis understood one’s journey to heaven or hell, to ing a child of God or of the Devil, as one...
Enviro-Capitalists
Aldo Leopold, one of the fathers of the modern American conservation movement and author of A Sand County Almanac, in his essay “The Farmer as Conservationist” described conservation as “harmony between men and land.” Leopold envisioned the practice of conservation as “not merely a negative exercise of abstinence or caution” but “a positive exercise of skill and insight” whereby the “pure fire of intellect” is made manifest. In defining conservation in such terms, he consciously placed the burden of...
Remember the Scriptures
Remember Creation is another in a growing list of books by evangelicals calling for concern about the environment. The fundamental message that Christians have a responsibility to God for wise stewardship of creation is unassailable, and Scott Hoezee’s book artfully makes the case for this. There are, however, serious weaknesses that detract from the book’s usefulness as a source of sound understanding regarding environmental theology, ethics, and science. A Scientifically Flawed Crisis Mentality First, the book displays considerable bias...
Liberalism Versus Community?
The Essential Communitarian Reader, edited by Amitai Etzioni, is a disappointing book. It is not clearly focused. It reads at times more like the platform of a political party than a set of serious essays designed to challenge the dominant Western political paradigm of the last few centuries. Most of its essays do e close to addressing the fundamental issues that divide classical liberals munitarians. I will ment on some of the more thoughtful essays in this volume, but...
A Humane Economy
A student of the Austrian School of economics and an architect of West Germany’s economic reconstruction after World War II, Wilhelm Röpke’s intellectual project was marked by sober thinking about the moral implications of the economic order. Perhaps his best-known work, A Humane Economy (originally published in 1960 and released last fall in a new edition), is the fruit of such thinking. Röpke begins A Humane Economy by anticipating three types of critics of his book: the collectivists, those...
Freedom and Virtue
The English weekly, The Spectator, on July 18, 1998, declared, “the pope has argued that only when individuals give of their own free will are their morals stretched and trained, but most voters adhere to Rousseau and the General Will. They want to give and receive as determined by Parliament.” That the welfare state is the greatest threat to morality and family is mon conclusion of American conservatives. Similarly, they recoil at the social and cultural decay represented by...
What a Natural Rights Regime Requires
There is a unique satisfaction in seeing a colleague’s work mature into a worthy contribution to the understanding of liberty. Randy Barnett’s articles on contract, the Second Amendment, and the Ninth Amendment have been all important statements. Now, his thinking on liberty flowers into a thoughtful, humble, and frank declaration. Barnett’s professional life would have drawn an approving nod from Aristotle. As he brings into perfection the potentialities of his thinking, as he achieves excellence in his life’s work,...
The Evolution of Ronald J. Sider
In 1991, Eerdmans published a revision of Craig Gay’s Ph.D. thesis. Entitled With Liberty and Justice for Whom?, the book’s subtitle conveyed its scope: The Recent Evangelical Debate Over Capitalism. Gay’s book was marked mon social science preoccupations–the assumption that “interests” determine convictions, for example–and did not always explicate the ideas of those it described in terms that satisfied their authors, but there is no other source available prehensively describes the debates then current. The usual suspects filled the...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved