Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Politics

January 22, 2016

Against Idolatrous Conservatism

Christians continually struggle to find the right approach, balance, and tone in their political witness, either co-opting the Gospel for the sake of political ends or retreating altogether out of fear of the same. Continue Reading...
January 20, 2016

What Kind of Socialist is Bernie Sanders?

While many politicians tend to avoid the labels “liberal” or “progressive,” Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders proudly self-identifies as a “socialist.” While at the University of Chicago in the early 1960s, Sanders joined the Young People’s Socialist League, the youth affiliate of the Socialist Party of America, and has remained a outspoken advocate for socialism ever since. Continue Reading...
January 12, 2016

Why is the State of the Union Always ‘Strong’?

I have a can’t miss prediction: tonight, when President Obama gives his eighth State of the Union address, he will describe the state of the union as “strong.” (I’ve made this prediction on this blog the past three years, so I’m hoping for a quadfecta of prescience tonight.) Continue Reading...
December 16, 2015

Pastors, Pulpits, and Politics

This week’s Acton Commentary is adapted from an introduction to a forthcoming edited volume, The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice. The goal of the collection is to bring some wisdom to principled and prudential aspects of addressing the complex questions related to responsible ecclesial word and deed today. Continue Reading...
December 04, 2015

Seeking Justice Must Always Be Personal

Conversations about justice tend to quickly devolve into debates over top-down solutions or mechanistic policy prescriptions. But while the government plays an important role in maintaining order and cultivating conditions for society, we mustn’t forget that justice begins with right relationships at the local and personal levels. Continue Reading...
November 24, 2015

Welcoming the refugee: Living in the tension of Christian hospitality

As debates about the Syrian refugee crisis bubble and brim, we continue to see a tension among Christians between a longing to help and a desire to protect. As is readily apparent in BreakPoint’s wonderful symposium on the topic, Christians of goodwill and sincere Biblical belief can and will disagree on the policy particulars of an issue such as this.  Continue Reading...
November 16, 2015

Report: Largest North Korean prison camp has expanded

Do Google Earth satellite images point to more grim news from inside North Korea? According to an article from United Press International (UPI), Curtis Melvin of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University noticed a substantial difference in satellite images of a North Korean prison camp from 2013 to some taken last month: [A]erial snapshots from Oct. Continue Reading...
November 16, 2015

Bourgeois Equality: The Modern World Can’t Be Explained By Material Causes

Economist Deirdre McCloskey is set to release the long-anticipated conclusion of the Bourgeois Era trilogy sometime next spring. The book, Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World, will build on her thesis that our newfound prosperity is not primarily due to systems, tools, or materials, but the ideas and rhetoric behind them. Continue Reading...