This summer, the interns at the Acton Institute have bonded over campfires, swing dancing and piles of folders and name tags. About half of the 18 interns are Catholic, and the others subscribe to a variety of Protestant denominations. Although most of us are studying economics, we each care deeply about our faith. As the evenings progress, our conversations often turn to topics of religion and theology. Acton University attracts participants from a variety of denominations and religions around the...

Europe is currently absorbed with the task of finding a unifying force among its diversity of culture and values. How can Europe e e pluribus unum– one out of many? Many European issues, from Brexit to the financial bankruptcy of Greece, should be understood through the framework of balancing national and international interests. Furthermore, among the flurry of adjustments to policy and government, how can the European Union assure that individual rights will be valued? Frederick Bastiat stated in The...

Occasionally, the themes the Acton Institute dedicates itself to proclaiming, in season and out of season, burst into the mainstream. On Monday’s “Rush Limbaugh” program, a female caller was perplexed that too many pulpits preach leftist ideals, which undermine the faith. Rush Limbaugh responded by pinpointing the intellectual moment that corroded the faith: When the Left convinced the clergy that socialism is charity, it was over. So much of the clergy is leftist, because to them it’s all charity. ‘It’s...

You could be prosecuted on the federal level if you “make any incision” on hog carcasses before all “hair, scurf and dirt, including all hoofs and claws, (is) removed from hog carcasses and the carcasses thoroughly washed and cleaned.” In January, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13771, pledging to reduce regulation, which initiated the recall of the Hog Carcass Cleaning Rule. It turns out that there were two rules on the books, the first states to wash the hog...

Last Friday, Theresa May’s Cabinet met to accept her plan for the UK’s future after Brexit. Over the weekend, a series of resignations began that could imperil her government. Rev. Richard Turnbull of the Oxford-based Centre for Enterprise, Markets, and Ethics analyzes these developments, and why they came about, in a new essay on Acton’sReligion & Liberty Transatlanticwebsite. He writes: Late on Sunday, the British Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, David Davis, resigned. On Monday Boris Johnson, the...

While many left-leaning American politicians tend to avoid the labels “liberal” or “progressive,” two popular Democrats—Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—proudly self-identify as a “democratic socialists.” Here’s what you should know about democratic socialism. What is democratic socialism? In Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey, Donald F. Busky explains the term this way: Democratic socialism is the wing of the socialist movement bines a belief in a socially owned economy with that of political democracy. Sometimes...

In “Origami of the Soul,” published recently by First Things, Timothy Reichert and Francis X. Maier argued that “hierarchical institutions” are needed to spiritually form the individual and that markets not only cannot form the individual, but also damage the institutions that would seek to. Institutions like marriage, the church, the military, take part in “folding” our souls into maturity, resulting in plex, and plementary shapes.” Markets, they argue, are impersonal and the increasing temptation of greater wealth draws people...

Earlier this week, President Trump announced he has nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. In honor ofthe nomination, here are six quotes by Judge Kavanaugh on law, liberty, and the Constitution: On the Judiciary and the Rule of Law: “I believe very deeply in those visions of the rule of law as a law of rules, and of the judge as umpire. By that, I mean a neutral, impartial judiciary...

Últimamente me he dado a la tarea de escribir algunos artículos sobre el socialismo en Latinoamérica. Ahora es el momento de cruzar el mediterráneo y llegar a España, digamos que si de socialismo se trata La Madre o algunos la llaman, tiene mucha tela que cortar. Comencemos por lo recientemente ocurrido con la moción de censura impuesta al expresidente Mariano Rajoy. Dicha moción dio paso a la formación de un gobierno socialista. No está de más decir que este modelo...

President Donald Trump announced last night that Judge Brett Kavanaugh will be his nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Here are five facts you should know about Judge Kavanaugh: 1.Brett Kavanaugh, age 53, was born in Washington, D.C.,and educated at Yale University (BA) and Yale Law Law School, (JD). He served as Associate Counsel and then Senior Associate Counsel to the President, and as an Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary to the President before being appointed by...