Posts by Rev. Ben Johnson
July 01, 2019
“Conservatism,” wrote Russell Kirk, “is the negation of ideology.” Kirk’s tradition rejects ideology, because “[t]he ideologues who promise the perfection of man and society have converted a great part of the twentieth-century world into a terrestrial hell.” Continue Reading...
June 28, 2019
Pastors less concerned as religious liberty declined: Poll
As Religious Freedom Week comes to a close, a survey captures a striking result: Fewer Americans are committed to the right of religious liberty, yet Protestant pastors are less concerned about the issue than they have been in years. Continue Reading...
June 28, 2019
New French language translation on Catholicism and communism on Acton’s transatlantic website
The Acton Institute has posted a new translation as part of its ongoing outreach to the French-speaking world. The article, “La montée du communisme dans des habits catholiques,” describes efforts to use Catholic rhetoric to promote the same statist aims once advanced by the former Communist Party in Eastern Europe. Continue Reading...
June 25, 2019
The Laffer Curve vindicated…in Canada
On September 14, 1974, economist Arthur Laffer and three friends had the most productive cocktail discussion in U.S. history. On that day, Laffer famously sketched his U-shaped theory of taxation on a cocktail napkin. Continue Reading...
June 24, 2019
NHS forces mentally challenged Catholic woman to have an abortion
If it were possible to localize all the pathologies undermining the West into a single incident, a court ruling handed down on Friday might serve as the one. A British judge has ordered a young Catholic woman with “moderately severe” learning disabilities to have a second-trimester abortion against her will, in a case filed by the publicly funded National Health Service. Continue Reading...
June 20, 2019
Communism with a Catholic vocabulary?
In the preamble to its constitution, the Industrial Workers of the World proclaimed that it would bring about socialism (which it dubbed “industrial democracy”) by “forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.” Continue Reading...
June 19, 2019
National healthcare is driving Christian doctors out of medicine
Proponents of a national health care system often describe the program as “all-inclusive.” However, a Canadian court ruling and a new U.S. congressional report show that single-payer health care could permanently exclude faithful Christians. Continue Reading...
June 18, 2019
What’s missing from the UK prime minister’s race? A British view
The 313 Conservative MPs held the second round of voting to elect the new leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister of the United Kingdom. Each of the six remaining candidates – Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid, and Rory Stewart – had to receive at least 33 votes to advance to the next round. Continue Reading...
June 14, 2019
A European social democrat critiques Bernie Sanders’ ’21st Century Bill of Rights’
Senator Bernie Sanders has refused to grapple with the fact that socialist governments regularly suppress human rights and devolve into despotism, according to a social democrat from Germany. Even as Sanders proposed an economic “Bill of Rights” this week, he ignored the fact that civil liberties depend on preserving “private economic initiative,” the political scientist said. Continue Reading...
June 14, 2019
The BBC scraps free TV for the elderly: A lesson from Boxer in ‘Animal Farm’
The BBC is renowned for its educational programming, but its most valuable lesson is being presented on a global stage right now. The BBC is facing backlash for doing away with a universal beneft for the elderly and, in the process, teaching an audience of millions how government programs really work. Continue Reading...