Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Public Policy

February 29, 2008

Hug your favorite liberal today

Found a study on sociobiology in The Economist (of all places). This passage on the development of liberal vice conservative tendencies was worth a chuckle: Dr Wilson and Dr Storm found several unexpected differences between the groups. Continue Reading...
February 29, 2008

Imprisonment and government expenditures

There’s a lot of consternation, much of it justified, about the news that now 1% of the population of the United States is incarcerated. Especially noteworthy is a comparison of the rate of imprisonment with institutionalization in mental health facilities over the last century. Continue Reading...
February 29, 2008

Buckley on law and Christian morality

From a CT interview in 1995 by Michael Cromartie: Certain things which the market authorizes simply in terms of law are unchristian and ought not to be done. The big issue today has to do with the fidelity of marriages. Continue Reading...
February 27, 2008

Coal-powered hybrids

As I said in 2006: Without too much exaggeration, you could say that today’s electric cars are really coal-powered. If you look at the sources of electricity in the US, “coal provides over half of the electricity flowing into American homes.” Continue Reading...
February 27, 2008

Business fighting poverty

Peter Heslam, a friend of the Acton Institute and sometime contributor to our journal, is the founder of a promising initiative at Cambridge University. Begun a couple years ago, the “Transforming Business” program has recently been revamped, with a new and improved website, including a blog. Continue Reading...
February 26, 2008

Free Cubans by dropping trade restrictions

In today’s Detroit News, Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, argues for the end of the trade restrictions against Cuba. Fidel Castro, recently retired from the position of el lider maximo, held the small island nation in the tight grip of his totalitarian regime, effectively stagnating all economic development for the past 50 years. Continue Reading...
February 25, 2008

The fight over charitable choice

Howard Friedman, at his ever-noteworthy Religion Clause blog, reports on the brewing battle over charitable choice language in the US Senate. The Coalition Against Religious Discrimination (CARD), which includes Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is pushing for language in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Act of 2000 to be removed that allows for faith-based charities receiving government funds to limit their hiring practices along confessional/denominational borders. Continue Reading...
February 21, 2008

Socialized medicine just keeps getting more glorious

As a person with a strong family history of cancer, this story warmed my heart. Oh wait, did I say “warmed my heart”? What I meant to say was “chilled me to the bone“: Created 60 years ago as a cornerstone of the British welfare state, the National Health Service is devoted to the principle of free medical care for everyone. Continue Reading...
February 19, 2008

The glory of socialized medicine

It’s a shame that the marvel of government-controlled health care hasn’t been implemented in the US yet: Seriously ill patients are being kept in ambulances outside hospitals for hours so NHS trusts do not miss Government targets. Continue Reading...
February 19, 2008

Washington Times on green candidates

Presidential front-runners and Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are lacking environmental leadership by failing to pay for offsets to cover their campaign carbon emissions. An article in the Washington Times titled, Green Crusades Lot of Talk, by Stephen Dinan, notes John McCain and Barack Obama aren’t leading by example. Continue Reading...