The fall semester is fast approaching. Why not look for ways to introduce your students to Abraham Kuyper in interactive ways? Kuyper has a perspective that is relevant to today’s student and their reality. The On Call in Culture University and Seminary Resource Kits are designed to provide you as an instructor with some simple ways to integrate Wisdom & Wonder, the first book in the Common Grace Translation Project, into your curriculum. Our hope is that your students will...

For decades teachers’s unions have been giving teachers—and unions—a bad name. A prime example is the intimidation tactics used by Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE): A Louisiana teachers union is threatening private schools with legal action if they accept money from a new voucher program – and the threat has already forced at least one school to put its participation in the program on hold. The demand was sent a few weeks ago by law firm representing the Louisiana Association...

French President François Hollande has promised a 75% tax rate on those in his country who earn an annual salary above one million euros ($1.24 million). Not surprisingly, this number has struck fear into the hearts and wallets of quite a few of France’s top earners, including some who are contemplating leaving and taking their jobs with them. The New York Times has the story: panies are studying contingency plans to move high-paid executives outside of France, according to consultants,...

As the federal government es ever more willing to use taxpayer dollars to fund activites that violate the conscience of its citizens, we’re increasingly faced with the question of whether we should refuse to pay those taxes. Theologian R.C. Sproul Jr. says the Christian answer is clear: . . . I can say with confidence that Christians should in fact pay whatever taxes they owe even when that money ends up financing abortions. The Christian who pays such taxes has...

In continuing with the work of highlighting Calvin Coolidge at Acton, Marc Vander Maas and I recently spoke with Amity Shlaes. Shlaes’s biography of the 30th president will be out in early 2013. She is a big fan of the Acton Institute and praised our work saying, “Acton has been all over the Coolidge case.” Shlaes is also interviewed in the Fall 2009 issue of Religion & Liberty. Listen to the podcast below: [audio: Marc and I also recorded an...

Libby A. Nelson at Inside Higher Education reports on the latest trend in clergy training: Dual degrees for seminary students aren’t entirely new. For decades, some seminaries and their nearby or affiliated colleges have graduated students with masters’ degrees in both divinity and social work. bination of a master’s degree in divinity with a master’s in business administration is newer, but growing, says Dan Aleshire, executive director of the Association of Theological Schools, an accrediting body. In the past five...

The “fixed pie” fallacy in economic thinking, as expressed by writers such as Hilaire Belloc, has served the class warfare crowd well despite lacking any basis in reality. “The historical reality of entrepreneurs gives the lie to two of Belloc’s assumptions: that the wealthy can maintain luxurious living standards by sitting on their wealth, and that capitalism prevents the poor from working their way up the economic ladder,” writes Charles Kaupke in the latest Acton Commentary (published August 8).The full...

Ismael Hernandez responds to President Obama’s “You didn’t get there on your own” speech with a piece titled “Obama’s Assault on Entrepreneurship: An Economic Roadmap to Nowhere,” on Crisis Magazine’s website. Hernandez, founder of the Freedom & Virtue Institute and regular Acton lecturer, employs Catholic moral teaching to determine just how much credit the government deserves for an entrepreneur’s successes. The President’s statements, Hernandez reasons, fail to account for the freedom of the individual to make sound economic and moral...

Last week we talked about how our memory is important to God using us where we are. Now we talk about another skill that is important to cultivate while being On Call in Culture: Storytelling. Only when we can express what God is doing through us can we truly understand our own experiences. The first step in storytelling is observation and reflection. After observing our spheres and reflecting on what happens we can begin to share with others what we...

Brett M. Decker, editorial page editor of The Washington Times, recently interviewed Rev. Robert Sirico, president and co-founder of The Acton Institute, in response to Rev. Sirico’s latest book, Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy. In his answers, Rev. Sirico addresses the market’s moral potential as well as the present state of the nation. Excerpt: Decker: Your new book is about the moral case for a free economy. What is the morality of the marketplace...