Acton Building located in downtown Grand Rapids’ Heartside District A two-year dispute between the Acton Institute and the City of Grand Rapids over the non-profit’s exempt status under state property tax law is over, with Acton emerging the victor. In 2014, the City rejected Acton’s request for a tax exemption on its building, parking areas, and personal property at 98 E. Fulton. Acton purchased the property in 2012 and spent much of the next year renovating the property. An appeal...

UPDATE: (3/17/16) United States: Islamic mitted genocide against Christians, Shi’ites. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry: “The fact is that Daesh kills Christians because they are Christians. Yazidis because they are Yazidis. Shi’ites because they are Shi’ites,” Kerry said, referring to the group by an Arabic acronym, and accusing it of crimes against humanity and of ethnic cleansing. Video of Secretary Kerry giving his statement on the Islamic State is now included at the bottom of this post. ✶✶✶✶✶ In...

As many are beginning to realize, and as the new documentary, Poverty, Inc., details at length, the foreign aid movement has largely failed the global poor, promoting top-down solutions at the expense of bottom-up enterprises and institutions. This is partly due to errors in economic thinking, but it es froma lack of understanding and appreciation forthe intangible assets in munities, particularly as it relates to the social and the spiritual. “There has got to be more than just a change...

On February 18th, the Acton Institute was pleased to e Jay Richards and Joseph Pearce to our Mark Murray Auditorium for an exchange on two distinct ideas on economics: Distributism vs. Free Markets. The gentleman’s debate was moderated by Acton Institute President Rev. Robert A. Sirico. Joseph Pearce, writer in residence at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, and Director of the college’s Center for Faith and Culture, argued in favor of distributism; Jay Richards,Assistant Research Professor School of Business and...

Todd Huizinga, Acton’s Director of International Outreach, joined host John J. Miller of National Reviewto discuss his new book,The New Totalitarian Temptation, on the Bookmonger Podcastat Ricochet.They discussed the problems afflicting the European Union, the potential Exit of the UK from the EU, and whether or not the United States faces the same problems with unaccountable government that bedevil Europe. You can listen to the podcast here. If you find the topic interesting, you can join us tomorrow here at...

Pope Benedict XVI often ventured into venues historically hostile to the Judeo-Christian tradition. A new collection of essays discusses many of these speeches, probing the relationship of reason to religion, the West, and natural law. Pope Benedict XVI’s Legal Thought: A Dialogue on the Foundation of Law, edited by Marta Cartabia and Andrea Simoncini, explores the Pope Emeritus’ speeches as well as the implications they have for law and democracy. Writing for Public Discourse, Acton’s Samuel Gregg discusses this collection...

“Do voters have a mitment problem’ with Bernie Sanders?” asks Dylan Pahman in this week’s Acton Commentary. So why would someone who seems really to want to be President (unlike candidates who appear to be using their campaigns to promote a book, for example) tell Americans he’s a socialist when half the country says they wouldn’t vote for one? How does that serve his interest? Shouldn’t it hurt his electability? The full text of the essay can be found here....

Last year, the House passed a bill to preempt states from imposing mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food (GMOs). But as Daren Bakst notes, “While it looked like the Senate was going to follow suit, in the last minute, the new Senate bill would actually effectively mandate the labeling of genetically engineered food.” “In the Senate bill, there would be a national mandatory labeling requirement unless the Secretary of Agriculture determines that there has been substantial participation by labeled foods...

Your writer persistently has defended genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from munity of religious shareholder activists in this space. Among these activists are the religious investors affiliated with Green America, including As You Sow. Even outside Green America’s orbit, AYS members continue to reject science and the itant reduction of world hunger. Just last week, AYS released its 2016 Proxy Preview wherein it boasts: GMOs: Just two proposals concern themselves with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in 2016, a drop from recent...

An aristocratic British teenager is kidnapped by pirates, sold into slavery, escapes and returns home, es a priest, returns to his land of captivity and face off against hordes of Druids. It’s not a Hollywood story, but the real life adventures of Patrick. Here are five facts about the amazing life of St. Patrick, the Indiana Jones of Christian saints: 1. Taken from his home in southern Britain, Patrick was captured by pirates in A.D. 405 when he was only...