Carl Jung and Lord Acton on the delicate fruit of liberty

Lord Acton famously wrote that “liberty is the delicate fruit of a mature civilization.” Liberty, Acton argued was rare and required constant attention to be maintained.  As many have noted, one of the challenges with political liberty is that it creates the conditions for its own demise from within. Continue Reading...

Upcoming scholarship deadline: July 15

Time is running out to apply for the Acton Institute’s Calihan Academic Grants! These awards are designed to support seminarians and graduate students in theology, philosophy, politics, economics, or related fields as they engage in serious study on the relationship between religion, liberty, theology, the free market, and the virtuous society. Continue Reading...

Athenians and Visigoths: Neil Postman’s graduation speech

While it could be argued that youth is wasted on the young, it is indisputable that commencement addresses are wasted on young graduates. Sitting in a stuffy auditorium waiting to receive a parchment that marks the beginning of one’s student loan repayments is not the most conducive atmosphere for soaking up wisdom. Continue Reading...

How people view religion’s role in their countries

Across 27 countries surveyed, more people think religion plays a less important role than a more important role compared with 20 years ago, notes a new report from Pew Research. But around the world, more people also favor an increased role for religion in their country than oppose it. Continue Reading...