Rev. Ben Johnson

Rev. Ben Johnson is an Eastern Orthodox priest and served as executive editor of the Acton Institute from 2016 to 2021. His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including National Review, the American Spectator, The Guardian, National Catholic Register, Providence, Jewish World Review, Human Events, and the American Orthodox Institute. His personal websites are therightswriter.com and RevBenJohnson.com. You can find him on X: @therightswriter.

Posts by Rev. Ben Johnson

September 05, 2019

A Christian’s calling during Brexit chaos

The UK has been on a wild ride this week, with the future of Brexit teetering on a razor’s edge. Prime Minister Boris Johnson expelled 21 members from the Conservative Party after they voted for a bill preventing the UK from leaving the EU without a deal, while Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party – which regularly demanded a general election against the hapless Theresa May – sank (or at least postponed) Johnson’s plan to call a general election. Continue Reading...
August 30, 2019

U.S. labor market outpaces Canada’s: Study

On Monday, the United States will celebrate Labor Day – and a new study shows that, while U.S. workers have much to celebrate, Canadians are not quite as fortunate. A new study about the Canadian economy dovetails with a report earlier this week that poor Americans are better off economically than average citizens of other advanced, but less economically free, OECD nations. Continue Reading...
August 29, 2019

Boris Johnson’s ‘win-win’ expressway to Brexit

Boris Johnson‘s decision to prorogue Parliament has opened up two paths for the UK to make a clean break from the European Union. This holds the potential to undermine globalism and the welfare state while diffusing prosperity to the developing world, according to a new essay by Rev. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2019

The reason America’s poor are richer than most Europeans

The U.S. has diverged from the OECD approach to economic and energy issues that critics called this weekend’s G7 Summit the “G6-plus-one.” However, a new study shows America’s less regulated, less regimented economy has generated such abundance that the poorest 20 percent of Americans are more prosperous than the average European. Continue Reading...
August 26, 2019

The ‘King of Israel’: The Caesar strategy or cultural renewal?

President Donald Trump ignited a national debate when he shared a comment referring to him by the messianic title of the “King of Israel.” Whatever this says about President Trump, it unintentionally revealed a great deal about Western Christians’ commitment to salvation by politics, and it brought to the surface a long-simmering question we must answer: Will we pursue cultural renewal through the sustained preaching and incarnation of the Gospel, or will we turn to a secular ruler for deliverance? Continue Reading...
August 22, 2019

Is wealth immoral? A Jewish view

At a public event earlier this year, when Ta-Nahisi Coates asked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if any “moral world” ever “allows for billionaires,” she replied simply, No.” Earlier this month, Adam Roberts asked at Vox, “Is wealth immoral?” Continue Reading...
August 20, 2019

Bishop Robert Barron explains Marxism in 21 minutes

Despite Marxism’s growing popularity among young people, church authorities spend little time discussing the topic – and when they do, they often speak in a misleading way. Thankfully, Bishop Robert Barron, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, addressed the topic at length last week. Continue Reading...
August 19, 2019

Will the Vatican’s economics drive Matteo Salvini to victory?

Italy’s coalition government seems ready to break apart, with Matteo Salvini of the League (who is seen as the country’s real leader) calling for new elections to force the Five Star Movement out of his alliance and Five Star trying to form a new coalition with the Democratic Party in order to oust Salvini. Continue Reading...