A Christian missionary working in Turkey, J.K. Marsden, described the roundup of Armenians in the town of Merzifon in the summer of 1915: They were in groups of four with their arms tied behind their backs and their deportation began with perhaps one-hundred or two-hundred in a batch. As we afterward learned, they were taken about twelve miles across the plains to the foothills, stripped of their clothing and in front of a ditch previously prepared, pelled to kneel down...

In assessing the health of our economy, many have been quick to proclaim the worst, whether pointing to flatlining wages or a supposedly static quality of life. Economic progress has halted, they say; thus, something must be terribly amiss with modern-day capitalism. “If you were born in 1973, the median wage went from $17 to $19 an hour in your lifetime,” wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders in a recent tweet. “…The top 1%’s annual e tripled: $480K to $1.45 million. That’s...

Human dignity, the defining value of the West, grows out of the Judeo-Christian belief that the human race was created in the image of God. However, a British court has officially pronounced this truth, revealed in the opening chapter of the Bible, patible with human dignity.” The case involved Dr. David Mackereth, who worked as a disability assessor for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). During an early evaluation meeting, a manager asked the 56-year-old Christian whether he would...

Sports have already been an Acton topic in the past week, so another sports story can’t hurt: 100 years ago this month was the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, infamous ever since for the “Black Sox” scandal, in which eight members of the heavily favored Chicago team accepted money from gamblers to throw the series to Cincinnati. The series ended on October 9, 1919, though the reckoning for players involved in the scheme was...

In last week’s Acton Commentary I expressed my hope that LeBron James wouldn’t just shut up and dribble in the wake of NBA appeasement and a coordinated sports media blackout regarding the protest movement in Hong Kong. As an NBA all-time great, plished businessman, and outspoken activist he was uniquely positioned to stand up for Hong Kong even if it meant standing up to the NBA, team owners, munist regime in China, and the NBA’s Chinese sponsors. I had not...

In Dan Hugger’s most recent post about the controversy surrounding the NBA’s visit to China, he identifies the crux of the issue: “If even the mildest form of expression of solidarity can provoke the People’s Republic of China to such draconian action as to imperil the well-being of NBA players, why play in China at all?” When I first heard LeBron James’ criticism of Daryl Morey, like many others I thought James was concerned about potential or actual investment from...

Kai Weiss, Research Fellow at the Austrian Economics Center, has a new essay on Law and Liberty exploring Lord Acton’s thoughts on nationalism: A little-known 1862 work calledNationalityby Lord Acton can perhaps shed new light, too, on the topic. For Acton, there are two types of nationality: the one of 1688, the other of 1789, i.e., English or French nationalism, which “are connected in name only, and are in reality the opposite extremes of political thought.” French nationalism arose during...

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint on Sunday. The former leader of the Anglican Church’s Oxford Movement – who became a cardinal in 1879, 34 years after his conversion – became one of the most influential Christian writers of his day. Prince Charles attended the canonization at the Vatican, saying, “Whatever our own beliefs, and no matter what our own tradition may be, we can only be grateful to Newman for the gifts, rooted in...

On Monday, October 14, 2019, Queen Elizabeth II opened a new session of the UK Parliament by delivering her 65th “Queen’s Speech.” Here are the facts you need to know. What is a Queen’s (or King’s) Speech? At the start of a new session of Parliament, the reigning Sovereign delivers a speech setting out the government’s agenda for the ing legislative session. Ceremonial elements date back centuries. Who writes the Queen’s Speech? Ironically, the Queen’s Speech is not written by...

Today at Spectator USA I write about Joe Biden’s forgotten status as a fount of youthful genius in “Joe Biden: victim of the cult of youth.” Biden won his first Senate election at the 29, the same age as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and spent the next two decades being extolled for his age and sophistication – before spending the last decade ridiculed for his age and mediocrity. Biden’s fate is a cautionary tale about a culture that exalts youth and passion...