John Couretas

is a writer and editor based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Posts by John Couretas

January 22, 2010

A ‘reckless’ Green Patriarch?

Over at the American Orthodox Institute’s Observer blog, Fr. Hans Jacobse takes Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to task for jumping on the global warming bandwagon: We warned the Ecumenical Patriarch that endorsing the global warming agenda was reckless. Continue Reading...
January 22, 2010

Psychologists confirm: Power corrupts

The Economist reports on a new study by psychologists that looks into the problem of abuse of power. The researchers attempt to “answer the question of whether power tends to corrupt, as Lord Acton’s dictum has it, or whether it merely attracts the corruptible.” Continue Reading...
January 14, 2010

Rethinking Social Justice

Some years ago, I was engaged in a conversation at a religious communicators convention with a liberal/progressive activist who was having trouble understanding how the market could actually be a force for good. Continue Reading...
January 11, 2010

Acton University: Register Today!

A friendly reminder that registration is currently open for the 2010 Acton University (AU), which will take place on June 15-18 in Grand Rapids, Mich. This year’s distinguished international faculty will once again guide participants through an expanded curriculum, offering even greater depth of exploration into the intellectual foundations of a free society. Continue Reading...
December 24, 2009

Byzantine Hymn for the Nativity of Christ

From the Holy Land, sung in Arabic. Merry Christmas to all PowerBlog readers and our blogging crew! St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 4:4-7 Brethren, when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Continue Reading...
December 18, 2009

Guardian Angels and the CO2 Thing

The question: Is this Copenhagen global warming conference an environmental pilgrimage for some? Says one demonstrator: “You can call it, like, some kind of a new religion, I don’t know … ” But the guy in the polar bear costume isn’t so sure. Continue Reading...
December 16, 2009

Science and the Demands of Virtue

The Acton Institute welcomes a new writer to the commentariat today with this piece on Climategate. The Rev. Gregory Jensen is a psychologist of religion and a priest of the Diocese of Chicago and the Midwest (Orthodox Church in America). Continue Reading...
December 01, 2009

How to effectively fight poverty

In advance of the Acton Institute’s conference, “Free Enterprise, Poverty, and the Financial Crisis,” which will be held Thursday, Dec. 3, in Rome, the Zenit news agency interviews Dr. Samuel Gregg, Director of Research. Continue Reading...
November 30, 2009

Review: The Modern Papacy

Ryan T. Anderson, editor of the Witherspoon Institute’s Public Discourse site, reviews Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg’s new book, The Modern Papacy, in the Nov. 28 issue of the Weekly Standard. Continue Reading...
November 25, 2009

George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

A blessed Thanksgiving to PowerBlog readers. [New York, 3 October 1789] By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Continue Reading...