Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Acton Commentary

August 10, 2011

Protect the Poor, Not Poverty Programs

My contribution to today’s Acton News & Commentary. Sign up for the free weekly Acton email newsletter here. Protect the Poor, Not Poverty Programs By John Couretas One of the disturbing aspects of the liberal/progressive faith campaign known as the Circle of Protection is that its organizers have such little regard – indeed are blind to — the innate freedom of the human person. Continue Reading...
July 13, 2011

Acton Commentary: Commodifying Compassion

In this week’s Acton Commentary, “Commodifying Compassion,” I look at the instinct to judge a society’s commitment to charity by the level of material expenditure, particularly by the government. One of the things I think is true in this conversation is that our material commitments do show something about our spiritual concerns. Continue Reading...
June 29, 2011

Zero-Sum Game Economic Fallacy

Imagine this:  a teacher tells her high school students that they are going to enjoy a chocolate cake, while learning about food distribution and economics.  (As a former high school teacher, I assure you, most of the students heard nothing past the word, “cake”.) Continue Reading...
June 23, 2011

Key to Economic Flourishing

It is nice to know that we here at Acton have friends in high places.  This article at Catholic Exchange by George Weigel points out that Blessed John Paul II had some keen insights into what makes economic life flourish: “John Paul taught that what the Church proposes is not simply the free society, but the free and virtuous society. Continue Reading...
June 15, 2011

Budget Morality

My Acton Commentary for this week tries to explain the differences between Christian proponents and opponents of Republican budget proposals: A Circle of Exchange is Better Than a Circle of Protection Strife over the budget in Washington continues, with religious leaders and organizations weighing in on both sides. Continue Reading...
June 10, 2011

Inner-city education fails without the church

My contribution for this week’s Acton News & Commentary: Inner-city education fails without the church By Anthony Bradley As Congress moves toward reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the problem is not that the Department of Education is not doing enough but that it suffers from an acute case of what psychologists call “organizational narcissism.” Continue Reading...
May 25, 2011

Acton Commentary: Little Plots of Liberty

In this week’s Acton Commentary I briefly survey the prospects for urban gardens and farming in the city of Detroit. As Aaron M. Renn wrote in New Geography a few years ago, Detroit represents one of the places where significant urban innovation is possible. Continue Reading...