Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
The Art of Freedom
The Art of Freedom
Oct 17, 2026 4:19 AM

From time to time, e across something that forces me to stop, step back, and marvel at the wonder of human creativity. The movie below is one of those things.

Airplanes are monplace that we often take them for granted. Here at Acton, many of my colleagues are regularly catching flights to all sorts of points on the globe, and it isn’t unusual for me to hear some grumbling about the airlines and the annoyances e along with modern air travel. But you won’t hear that from me – I have never lost the fascination with airplanes that I had as a young child, and I treasure the opportunity to fly.

Imagine – I could get onto an airplane today, climb to an altitude over five miles above the surface of the earth at speeds approaching 800 feet per second, all while balanced on a point where the opposing forces of thrust, drag, lift and gravity are in perfect harmony, and all in fort. And in doing so, I would join into an intricate international choreography of aircraft that end up creating the delicate and beautiful patterns that you see above.

Take a moment today to appreciate the gift of liberty that can unleash human creativity. And then take some time to stand in awe of the Creator who our human creativity only dimly reflects.

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 ONLINE
Audio: Dennis Miller Declares ‘Bobby Sirico’ to be a ‘Good Cat’; Also Talks PovertyCure
Acton Institute President Rev. Robert A. Sirico joins host Dennis Miller on The Dennis Miller Show to discuss President Obama’s recent visit in Rome with Pope Francis, and the differences between the current president’s relationship with the Roman Pontiff and that of Reagan and Pope John Paul II. They also discuss the PovertyCure initiative, after which Dennis declares “Bobby Sirico” to be a “good cat,” which is high praise ing from the former host of SNL’s Weekend Update. The audio...
Bridging Income Inequality: The Subsidiarity Of Friendship
There is a lot of talk about “closing the gap” and ing e inequality.” Some of it is pure socialism: Redistribute! Redistribute! Others look for ways to create jobs and help people create new financial opportunities for themselves. But what about the simple gift of friendship? At The American Conservative, Gracy Olmstead suggests that friendship can bridge e gaps, and creates safety nets for people in ways government and even private agencies cannot. We all have close friends and family...
Religion: Fighting For Tolerance Or Existence?
I am not concerned how my meat is butchered. I prefer my meat to be raised organically, and I like it cooked. Other than that, I’m not too fussy, but I don’t have to be. My religious faith doesn’t have anything to say about how meat is butchered. If a person is Jewish or Muslim, however, this is a big deal. And many Jews and Muslims take it as seriously as I take the tenets of my faith. And while...
Oikonomia: A Holistic Theology of Work in One Flowchart
The following es from “Theology That Works,” a 60-page manifesto on discipleship and economic work written by Greg Forster and published by the Oikonomia Network. Given our tendency to veer too far in either direction (stewardship or economics), and to confine our Christian duties to this or that sphere of life, the diagram is particularly helpful in demonstrating the overall interconnectedness of things. As Forster explains: In most churches today, stewardship only means giving and volunteering at church. But in...
Is American Innovation Fading?
In a fascinating essay in Mosaic, Charles Murray examines the spirit of innovation in America. He asks, As against pivotal moments in the story of human plishment, does today’s America, for instance, look more like Britain blooming at the end of the 18th century or like France fading at the end of the 19th century? If the latter, are there idiosyncratic features of the American situation that can override what seem to be longer-run tendencies? The author of Human plishment:...
The Hegemonic Misandry Continues: ADHD
Cultural progressives often talk about something called “hegemonic masculinity.” By this progressives and feminists mean the standards we use to determine what an ideal man is in a particular culture. Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson, in The Gendered Society Reader, describe American hegemonic masculinity this way: In an important sense there is only plete unblushing male in America: a young, married, white, urban, northern, heterosexual, Protestant, father, of college education, fully employed, of plexion, weight, and height, and a recent...
When Caesar Meets Peter
Although religion and politics are not supposed to be discussed in pany, they are nearly impossible to ignore. We try to do so in order to avoid heated, never-ending arguments, preferring to “agree to disagree” on the most contentious ones. It’s a mark of Lockean tolerance, but there are only so many conversations one can have about the weather and the latest hit movie before more interesting and more important subjects break through our attempts to suppress them. This is...
Samuel Gregg on Just Money
“If a society regards governmental manipulation of money as the antidote to economic challenges,” writes Acton research director Samuel Gregg at Public Discourse, “a type of poison will work its way through the body politic, undermining justice and mon good.” Money: it’s on everyone’s mind sometimes. In recent years, however, many have suggested there are some fundamental problems with the way money presently functions in our economies. No one is seriously denying money’s unique ability to serve simultaneously as a...
Christ’s Preferential Option for Tax Collectors
During the 20th century, the option for the poor or the preferential option for the poor was articulated as one of the basic principles of Catholic social teaching. For example, in Octogesima Adveniens (1971), Pope Paul VI writes: In teaching us charity, the Gospel instructs us in the preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society: the most fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods generously at the...
Longing For The Good Old Days Of The Great Depression
. Sure, times were tough, but at least people were more sensitive and caring. And our government was much better at taking care of people. Not like now when people are losing government hand-outs left and right. No, the days of the Great Depression were good. There was a time in our history when the poor and unemployed experienced a passionate government. During the Great Depression the federal government not only provided safety nets in the form of relief, food...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved