State lotteries may seem like a good thing. They raise money for government programs like public schools. People contribute their money voluntarily (unlike most forms of taxation), which removes the moral weight involved in forcing people to hand over their money. They are fun games for the participants and can be life-changing for the winners. These reasons lead many people to support – or at least tolerate – state lotteries. But the lottery deserves neither our support nor our toleration,...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on the evening of Friday, September 18, 2020, at the age of 87. She died following her fifth bout with cancer, which had metastasized to her pancreas. She is preceded in death by her husband, Martin, and is survived by two children and four grandchildren. Ginsburg, the second woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, earned her reputation at its most fervent judicial activist during her 27 years on the court. At...

Economic freedom is strongly tied to human flourishing, longevity, and even rates of survival, according to a new study. The Fraser Institute released its 2020 “Economic Freedom of the World” report on Thursday and, once again, the Canadian think tank found a strong correlation between free-market economics, prosperity, and overall levels of public health and well-being. Academic researchers have rated 162 nations based on five criteria: Area 1: Size of Government—As spending and taxation by government, and the size of...

Charles Malik, the Lebanese diplomat and one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was intimately involved in the crises of his own day, from the challenge of munism to the internal challenges and problems of the West itself.For Malik all of our challenges take the form of crises which, at their deepest levels, reflect Christ’s judgement. His profoundly theological vision of global crisis, one in which crises are ongoing in the lives of individual believers as...

China’s draconian “national security law” has not just stifled the free speech of pro-democracy politicians, teachers, and journalists, it has now shut down a prayer campaign called by Roman Catholic hierarchy. Catholic bishops in Hong Kong canceled publication of a prayer for fear of offending officials in the Chinese Communist Party. This summer, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences asked its members to pray for the increasingly oppressive situation in Hong Kong. China’s violation of the “one country, two systems”...

Traditional religion is increasingly being replaced by a series of “new atheisms,” leading many to search for spiritual meaning elsewhere, particularly in the workplace. As a result, modern workers are more likely to view their economic activity through spiritual vocabulary, using terms like “calling” and “vocation.” Yet without the right transcendent source and ethical arc, such a development can simply lead us to new fads of self-actualization and faux self-empowerment. As The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson recently argued, “everybody worships something,”...

Given the recent wave of populism and protectionism sweeping across the American Right, we see increased criticism of free markets among conservatives plete with lengthy debates about the purpose of the nation-state, the role of the market in civil society, and whether classical liberalism has any enduring value in an age of technological disruption and globalization. Meanwhile, the Left continues its critiques as it always has, leading to a peculiar alliance against capitalism among otherwise ideological foes. Each side is...

The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah lasts from sundown on Friday, September 18 until sundown on Sunday, September 20, 2020. Here are the facts you need to know about the beginning of the Jewish New Year and the first of the High Holy Days. What is Rosh Hashanah? Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, takes place in the fall during the first two days of the month of Tishrei. The phrase Rosh Hashanah means “the head of the year.” By...

Why is tonight different from all other nights? Because if you live in Los Angeles, you could face legal repercussions for celebrating the Jewish High Holy Days with family and friends. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health ordered the public not to gather with anyone outside their immediate family to celebrate the Judaism’s holiest celebrations. But after the legal intervention of a religious liberty watchdog, county officials backed down from the most rigid forms of enforcement. “The following...

Some 1.2 billion students around the world experienced school closures and an inevitable move to online learning or homeschooling toward the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Graduations and end-of-year celebrations were canceled due to COVID restrictions on public assemblies. This may have been good way to limit the contagion, but did it bring unintended consequences? Was all the creative destruction of traditional education more harmful than it was helpful? Now with the coronavirus lingering longer than most people thought...