Weary and wary from the Religious Right’s checkered history of unhealthy political alliances, many pastors and churches have opted for disengagement altogether. Or the illusion of disengagement, that is. As Andrew Walker reminds us, “It is impossible for churches to be apolitical because Jesus is a King. He isn’t a pious emblem to tuck away into our hearts with no earthly effect.” The Gospel we preach is inherently political. Indeed, as Walker continues,“Jesus is Lord” is “the most political statement...

Note: This is the seventhpost in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. In previous videos in this series from Marginal Revolution University we learned how prices reach equilibrium and how the market works like an invisible hand coordinating economic activity. In the next couple of videos you’ll see why the equilibrium price (he market price where the quantity of goods supplied is equal to the quantity of goods demanded) is the only stable price and whether this model works...

“Supporting markets as the economic arrangements most likely to help promote human flourishing doesn’t necessarily mean you accept libertarian philosophical premises” says Acton Institute Director of Research Samuel Gregg in an essaypublished today at Public Discourse. es in response to “Koch Brothers Latest Target: Pope Francis,”an Oct. 14article written by John Gehring at the American Prospect that claims the Acton Institute is part of a larger network of organizations behind “a decidedly different message than Pope Francis does when es...

This weekend Saturday Night Live had a sketch that set the Internet abuzz and had Slate asking whetherthe skit was the “most astute analysis of american politics in 2016.” The setup was “Black Jeopardy!”,a recurring bit on SNL that normally pits two lower-class black contestants against a wealthier and/or well-educated white contestant who is clueless about African-American perspectives on race and culture. Thistime, though,the white guy is a working-class (presumed)Trump supporter named Doug(played by Tom Hanks)—who isn’t as out of...

A new interactive tool shows that men, women, and families from around the world have a lot more similarities than differences. With the U.S. presidential election, confusion over Brexit, and seemingly crumbling international relationships, 2016 feels like it’s been months and months of anger, resentment, and disharmony. Americans—and non-Americans too—are feeling like we have nothing mon with anyone anymore. It’s worth taking a moment to look at the data and realize that just isn’t true. Gapminder recently launched a new...

Imagine if Donald Trump made a campaign promise that he would lower the pay of every American, but would ensure that the poorest 10 percent have their pay lowered the most. Would you vote for him then? Or imagine if Hillary Clinton said she would increase inflation substantially to make the economy more “fair” for everyone. Would she win your support? Neither candidate has made such a claim—at least not directly. TheAmerican people would immediate reject such harmful economic policies,and...

Does the work of a coffee buyer have an impact that stretches on into eternity? Does coffee tasting matter to God? In a new video from Chapel Hill Bible Church, coffee taster and buyer Jeff McArthur shares how he came to see the deeper meaning of his work, both in the day-to-day trades and exchanges with his customers munity and in the relational ripple effects that reach on into the broader economic order. “I feel like sometimes God has us...

“In modern times, more and more Americans have unwittingly relinquished their freedoms and self-determination to career politicians,” says Daniel Garza, president and chairman of The LIBRE Institute. “Millions have ceded their fate to a raft of government programs and entitlements administered by a powerful central government.” Fighting poverty through work, generated by a free market economic system, is essential to sustain a free society. Ours is the only system the world has ever known that so effectively improves the human...

John Nunes John Nunes has made history as the first African American president at Concordia College. On October 22, 2017, the Acton Alumnus and long-time Acton friend was installed as the ninth president of Concordia College-New York. Nunes is the only African American college president serving at an orthodox Christian college in the United States. An ordained pastor in the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod), Nunes was most recently the Emil and Elfriede Jochum Chair at Valparaiso University and prior to...

On this edition of Radio Free Acton, Jordan Ballor – Acton Research Fellow, Director of Publishing, and Executive Editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality – talks with Benjamin Domenech, publisher of The Federalist, about the current populist moment in American politics, the roots of American populism, and what the possible es of the current populist uprising may be for the United States. For more from Ben Domenech, be sure to check out The Federalist Radio Hour, and subscribe...