Religion & Liberty Online Archives

News and Events

May 29, 2019

Pope Francis on ‘fake charity’

At the recent Vatican meeting of Catholic Charities Pope Francis praised the participants for their concern for the poor and marginalized, but warned them of the danger of “fake charity.” Carol Glatz writes in Catholic Herald: Charity is not a sterile service or a simple donation to hand over to put our conscience at ease,” he said. Continue Reading...
May 23, 2019

Alejandro Chafuen in Forbes: Xi Jinping’s ‘New Long March’

Alejandro Chafuen, Acton’s Managing Director, International, writes today in Forbes of the growing trade war between the United States and China. Chinese president Xi Jinping recently characterized the road ahead as a “new Long March,” in a reference to Mao Zedong’s legendary strategic retreat from Chiang Kai-Shek’s nationalist forces in 1934. Continue Reading...
May 15, 2019

Should credit-card interest be capped at 15%?

Democratic presidential primary contender Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have unveiled a plan to cap credit-card interest rates at 15%: Under the “Loan Shark Prevention Act,” the annual percentage rate applicable to any extension of credit would not be allowed surpass 15% on “unpaid balances, inclusive of all finance charges” or “the maximum rate permitted by the laws of the State in which the consumer resides.” Continue Reading...
May 09, 2019

Acton alumnus awarded highest civilian honor in Brazil

On the morning of May 3, Acton University alumnus, Marcel van Hattem, was awarded the Order of Rio Branco, the highest civilian award in Brazil, by President Jair Bolsonaro. The Order of Rio Branco award, established in February 1963, is named after the Brazilian diplomat, Barao do Rio Branco, and given to “stimulate the practice and deeds worthy of honorable mention,” to “distinguish meritorious services and civic virtues.” Continue Reading...
May 07, 2019

Is behavioral economics blind to its blindness?

I find some of the work of behavioral economists, especially that of Daniel Kahneman to be very interesting and important. Thinking Fast and Slow is essential reading. His distinctions between what he calls Type I and Type II thinking is very insightful, and the broad critique that human beings don’t always act like rational maximizers is a correct. Continue Reading...
April 24, 2019

Joshua Berman on whether the Exodus happened

This is the season of Jewish Passover and Christian Easter (or Pascha.)  This is the time when Jews recall how God passed over their homes and spared their first born, led them dry shod across the Red Sea and saved them from slavery in Egypt.  Continue Reading...
April 19, 2019

Rev. Sirico: Easter in the wake of the Notre Dame fire

It was a terrible thing on Monday to watch as flames consumed the beautiful and historic Notre Dame du Paris cathedral; I’m certain that I was not alone in fearing that before the conflagration was over, we would see that sublime structure come crashing down in a heap of ash and shattered stone. Continue Reading...
April 18, 2019

As Notre Dame burns, the Cross stands firm

Many have commented on the fact that Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral burned during Holy Week (see here or here or here for just a few examples), and rightfully so — the symbolism of death and the hope of resurrection is hard to miss. Continue Reading...