In today’s National Catholic Register, reporter Joan Frawley Desmond talks to John Kennedy, a Grand Rapids-based business owner of Autocam, pany that makes both precision auto parts and medical supplies. Kennedy (who is a board member of the Acton Institute) speaks candidly about his faith, pany’s future and the HHS mandate battle. The Obama administration has sought to dismiss the merits of HHS lawsuits filed by business owners like Kennedy, arguing that free exercise and statutory religious-freedom protections only apply...

The latest edition of Radio Free Acton takes a look at the awful practice of human trafficking in advance of Acton’s ing moderated panel discussion on the issue, Hidden No More: Exposing Human Trafficking in West Michigan. Acton Director of Communications John Couretas speaks with Elise Hilton, whose name you’ll recognize from our blog, and who has authored a great many posts drawing attention to just this topic. Give the podcast a listen via the audio player below, and be...

Calvin Sr. and Calvin Jr. In reading Amity Shlaes’ marvelousbiography of Calvin Coolidge, I was struck by a brief poem written by Coolidge’s son, Calvin Jr., during his father’s stint as vice president to Warren Harding. Coolidge was having a hard time adapting to life in Washington, ridiculed for a variety of things, and struggling to remain supportive of an administration which, as Shlaes puts it, boasted “a temperament wilder than his own.” As one glimpse into these matters, Coolidge’s...

The impression that atheism or materialism is an plished host for libertarian values is mistaken, says Jay Richards. “Libertarians may be surprised to learn that these core values—if not the entire repertoire of libertarian ideas—makes far more sense in a theistic milieu.” Richards examines four areas that are lost by embracing an atheistic, materialistic worldview: No Individual RightsNo Freedom or ResponsibilityNo Reliable ReasonNo Moral Truth Richards makes clear that his argument does not claim that either libertarian values or theism...

The city of Grand Rapids, Mich. continues to deny the Acton Institute application for property tax-exemption, even as Acton presents evidence to support such status. The Acton Institute, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and ranked #11 in the world as a social policy think tank by the University of Pennsylvania, received notice from City Assessor Scott Engerson that it did not meet the criteria for tax-exempt status for property tax purposes. Most people think...

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a potential 2016 presidential candidate, recently argued that Congress should hike taxes on families and small businesses making more than $1 million, then use the tax revenue to let debt-ridden students refinance their college loans. As a progressive redistribution scheme it’s rather ingenious: It allows the government to take money from private individuals and businesses and give it to other businesses (i.e., college and universities), all while giving the impression of helping another group of private...

Daniel Hannan, Member of the European Parliament and writer, says he believes the European Union is “making its peoples poorer, less democratic and less free.” In the short video below, he explains why, when es to government, smaller is better. ...

On March 4, Acton’s Director of International Outreach, Todd Huizinga, participated on a panel discussion hosted by Calvin College on Ukraine and the Cold War. Huizinga focused on the EU during the discussion; he was joined by Prof. Becca McBride who focused on Russia; Prof. Joel Westra, who focused on the Global Security Implications; and Dr. Olena Shkatulo, assistant professor of Spanish at Calvin, who is from Ukraine. The moderator was Prof. Kevin den Dulk. Ukraine – The Last Frontier...

Leghorn Chicken, a “socially conscious chicken shop” in Chicago, makes it quite clear that they intend to be, as one might put it, a culture-making enterprise. Behold, their statement of faith(HT). Such an attitude, worldview, and moral orientation isn’t all that appealing to someone such as myself, particularly when paired with the lovely parental advisory sign located at the counter. Yet I feel no inclination to enlist the muscle of the magistrates to manipulate them toward watering things down. I...

Who is the biggest enemy of the free market system? The late Milton Friedman, one of the 20th century’s most prominent free market champions, had a surprising answer: the munity. Economist Arnold Kling explains whysupport for markets and business are not the same thing: Consider the following matrix: Pro-Business Anti-Business Pro-Market Anti-Market The point is that there really are four separate categories, not just the two pro’s and the two anti’s. On health care reform and bank regulation, I would...