Islam patible with democracy and religious pluralism, as the recent cultural and political reformations in Indonesia have proved. Will other Muslim-majority nations take notice? And will Civil Islam help young Muslims stay Muslim? Read More… The rise of “Islamic extremism” in France, the reemergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the recent drift toward Islamist politics—political efforts to enforce an orthodox interpretation of Islam on society—in Turkey have revived the debate about Islam’s relationship with democracy and liberty. French president...

Xi Jinping’s recent victory lap in Hong Kong does not bode well for the future of civil rights and freedoms there, as the “one country, two systems” agreement made with Great Britain in 1997 appears irreparably broken. Read More… On January 1, 1997, Hong Kong, effectively seized by Great Britain in war a century before, reverted to Chinese rule. Only recently liberated from the madness of Mao Zedong’s rule, Beijing promised to preserve Hong Kong’s separate “system” for 50 years....

On July 5, 1852, nearly a decade before the start of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass, a freed slave and statesman-abolitionist, offered a profound speech on seeing the Fourth of July through the eyes of a slave. The speech monly known as “What to a slave is the 4th of July?” — illuminates the drastic disconnect between ourfounding principles and the severe oppression of slavery that somehow managed to endure. While the specific evils in question have thankfully been abolished,...

Season 4 of the Netflix mega-hit still focuses on the reality of supernatural evil, but has added a dose of natural evil as well. But where’s the supernatural good? Read More… The final installment of the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things was released on July 1. According to Variety, season 4’s first installment “of the Duffer Brothers’ hit sci-fi series was viewed for 287 million hours during the week of May 23–29, landing in the No. 1 position.” The...

Roe v. Wade has been overturned and bad arguments in defense of unrestricted abortion abound. What everyone needs now is a little history lesson. Read More… As I was watching a film with my son the other day, we began to hear chanting below us. We looked out the window and saw protesters marching in the streets shouting, “Hey Hey! Ho Ho! The white man has got to go!” The protesters were themselves white. The protest was in response to...

Between raging inflation and declining markets, consumers have much to worry about. What they shouldn’t worry about is whether there are answers at hand. Some new books provide hope. Read More… If you attended Acton University, you saw the treasure trove of books for sale. Several of those books made it onto both my credit card and my summer reading list. Even if you weren’t able to join us at AU, you can still find most of the books here....

The Daily Wire’s new documentary offers disturbing realities but only one answer to a question that raises many more. What would a sequel look like? Read More… “Nature always tells us the truth, even if we don’t want to hear it.” So begins the latest cinematic offering from the Daily Wire,What Is a Woman? The documentary is stirring up controversy with its sarcastic cultural analysis and skillful showcasing of extreme social absurdity. Conservative mentator Matt Walsh’s dry style edic narration...

A new bipartisan bill in the Senate aims to rein in supposedly monopolistic and unfair business practices. But it will only petition in the long run and hurt the very consumers it’s intended to help. Read More… The popular view of the recent NBA Finals is that the Boston Celtics and Golden State peted for the title of best team. The nation’s best basketball players traded points, victories, and fouls on the way to the Warriors pulling off the final...

In his new book, F.H. Buckley offers a vision of a “progressive conservatism” that sure sounds like the traditional Grand Old Party platform. Not that that’s a bad thing. Read More… Sisyphus was the first conservative, Claremont Review of Books editor William Voegeli wryly observes, because the lot of the conservative is one of short-lived, temporary victories. Conservatives certainly have no shortage of examples. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act didn’t even last 20 years, made obsolete by Obergefell v....

Requiescat in pace. Read More… Tony Sirico, the renowned actor and older brother of Acton Institute co-founder and president emeritus, Rev. Robert A. Sirico, passed away on July 8, 2022. He was 79 years old. Watch the livestream of the funeral of Tony Sirico on Wednesday, July 13, at 10:30am ET here: Sirico was best known for his role as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieriin HBO’sThe Sopranos, for which he won twoScreen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in...