“Someday this will all be yours,” I said, waving my hand across the aisles of the Piggly Wiggly. I was trying to ingratiate myself with my boss, the general manager for the biggest grocery store in Clarksville, Texas. He just smirked and shook his head. “For every dollar in sales, how much do you think this stores earns in profit?” At the time I was taking high school economics and considered myself something of a financial savant because I knew...

While it may not seem like it when you’re standing at the checkout line at the grocery store, food is cheaper now that it was half a century ago. “We are purchasing more food for less money, and we are purchasing our food for less of our e,” says Annette Clauson, an agricultural economist. “This is a good thing, because we have e to purchase other things.” A recent report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows how the...

J.C. Huizenga Photo from Mlive Employees of the Huizenga Automation Group got a great surprise earlier this week. According to Mlive, after selling pany, owner J.C. Huizenga gave away $5.75 million in bonuses to his employees at two panies that were part of the Automation Group. Huizenga acknowledged that his success was due to the work of his employees so he wanted to share his profits with them: “We all worked together at J.R. Automation and Dane Systems” and panies...

In many parts of the world, the deadliest words are, “it’s a girl.” Abortion and infanticide mon when those words are heard. If the girl manages to live, she is considered a burden and/or a slave. One region in India is changing this attitude. Villages like Piplantri in Rajasthan state of India have a story quite different from the more popular, abused and ill-treated ‘India’s daughter’. Here, every time a girl child is born, 111 trees are planted in celebration...

HilarionIn a March 29 discussion on Russian TV with a government official, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk decried the attacks against Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, describing these attacks as a genocidal campaign that until recently in international forums and mass media have been “hushed up as if non-existent; it was simply ignored.” The director of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church said in the interview that “now we have found ourselves in a situation when the...

Twenty years ago, mainline Protestant denominations supported legislation that protected religious freedoms. Today, those same denominations have decided that advancing the sexual revolution is more important than defending the conscience of their fellow Christians. In an op-ed for the Washington Times, Nicholas G. Hahn III notes how churches that join in sexual-revolution politicking are finding they are preaching to empty pews: This kind of sexual-revolution politicking leaves almost no room for prayer, and offers the faithful little more than what...

Acton Institute President and Co-Founder Rev. Robert A. Sirico was a guest this afternoon on Your World With Neil Cavuto on the Fox News Channel to discuss new research that indicates declining mitment in the United States and growing Muslim populations worldwide, with the projection that Muslims will outnumber Christians by 2100. The full interview is available via the video player below. ...

Series Note: Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. Because unemployment is a spiritual problem, Christians in America need to understand and be aware of the monthly data on employment. Each month highlight the latest numbers we need...

Amidst the hubbub surrounding Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the owners of Memories Pizza, a local family-owned restaurant, have been the first to bear the wrath of the latest conformity mob. We knew e, of course. “They” being fresh off the sport of strong-arming boutique bakeries and shuttering the shop doors of grandmother florists(all in the name of “social justice,” mind you). The outrage is rather predictable these days, and not just on issuesas hot and contentious as this. pany...

In his newly translated primer on the book of Matthew, Reformed pastor Cornelis Vonkwritespowerfully aboutthe monumental moment of Jesus’ death. Summarizing the heart of the Gospel and its profound implications for human freedom, Vonkreminds us of the lasting power of God’sincredible sacrifice. “Death did not e Jesus,” Vonk writes, “for he was so willing to lay down his life himself.” Shortly before dying, Jesus is forsaken by God. This happened when, in addition, an hour-long darkness had spread across the...