History

October 04, 2019

Some myths and facts about Saint Francis of Assisi

October 4th is the Feast Day of Francis of Assisi. He is surely one of the most famous Christian saints. A sense of his impact upon the world can be gauged by the fact that Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX just two years after his death in 1226. Continue Reading...

October 04, 2019

13 facts about St. Francis of Assisi: Samuel Gregg

The Roman Catholic Church observes October 4 as the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. The beloved saint has often been portrayed as a proto-environmentalist, a borderline pantheist, or a holy man who used his religious vocation to “preach communism.” Continue Reading...

September 30, 2019

Giuseppe Franco to Deliver the 2019 Calihan Lecture: ‘Religion, Society, and the Market’

Mark your calendar! As announced earlier this year, Professor Giuseppe Franco is the recipient of the 2019 Novak Award. In the upcoming 19th annual Calihan Lecture, Franco will examine the social philosophy and economic ethics of Wilhelm Röpke, 19th century economist said to be one of the spiritual fathers of the social market economy. Continue Reading...

September 26, 2019

The sermons that sparked a socialist revolution

1917 was the year of socialist revolutions. In the United States, an abortive revolt took place in Oklahoma that August, fueled by revolutionaries twisting the Gospel. The “Green Corn Rebellion” took place August 2 and 3 in Seminole County, in the rural, central portion of the Sooner State. Continue Reading...

September 19, 2019

George Washington’s farewell address

On this date in 1796, near the end of his second term as president, George Washington published The Address of Gen. Washington to the People of America on His Declining the Presidency of the United States. Continue Reading...

September 18, 2019

Samuel Gregg on ‘The specter of scientism’

In this week’s Acton Commentary, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg looks at how “scientism” treats the scientific method as the only way of knowing anything and everything. Without dismissing the real achievements of modern science, he notes that “one side-effect of these triumphs was that some began treating the empirical sciences as the only form of true reason and the primary way to discern true knowledge … ” Notwithstanding these serious flaws with scientism, its acceptance has two effects on a society. Continue Reading...

September 04, 2019

Karl Marx: Intellectual father of the 1619 Project?

The New York Times’ 1619 Project seeks to establish the moment the first slave ship landed in Virginia as “a new point of origin for our national story,” because“nearly everything that has made America exceptional grew out of slavery.” Continue Reading...

August 28, 2019

Michael Novak and the ‘crisis of capitalism’

Jordan Ballor recently brought to my attention this remarkable passage from Michael Novak’s The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, “Our moral and cultural traditions have not kept pace with our economic possibilities. Continue Reading...

August 28, 2019

Drucker on the ‘master organization’ and the totalitarian conceit

This is the fourth in a series of essays on Peter Drucker’s early works. It was sometimes said of fascists that they “made the trains run on time.” In The End of Economic Man, Peter Drucker saw that fascists “proved” their fitness through effective organization. Continue Reading...

August 22, 2019

The nation in arms: Drucker on government’s ultimate tool for social control

This is the third in a series of essays on Peter Drucker’s early works. As I explained in an earlier post, Drucker recognized that fascists were able to take advantage of the dissatisfaction that many experience in a society dominated by money. Continue Reading...

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