Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Public Policy

January 31, 2013

Obama’s Most Fowl Double Standard

In the 1880s America’s most flighty fad was fowl-bedecked fashion. “Trendy bonnets were piled high with feathers, birds, fruit, flowers, furs, even mice and small reptiles,” writes Jennifer Price, “Birds were by far the most popular accessory: Women sported egret plumes, owl heads, sparrow wings, and whole hummingbirds; a single hat could feature all that, plus four or five warblers.” Continue Reading...
January 30, 2013

Business Entrepreneur Focuses on Catholic Education

Frank Hanna III, CEO of Hanna Capital, LLC, has made Catholic education a special focus. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Hanna spoke of the challenges, changes and reasons to champion religious education: The more I looked into the issues of society, the more I became convinced that a lot of our societal failings happen much sooner; so much of the foundation of our failure was happening in our educational system. Continue Reading...
January 30, 2013

Makers, Takers, and Representation without Taxation

My review of Nicholas Eberstadt’s A Nation of Takers: America’s Entitlement Epidemic appears in the current issue of The City (currently available in print). Eberstadt makes some important points about the sustainability of our society given current trends in our national polity. Continue Reading...
January 28, 2013

The FAQs: School Choice

In honor of the third annual National School Choice Week, here are some facts you should know about school choice in America. What does “school choice” mean? The term “school choice” refers to programs that give parents the power and opportunity to choose the schools their children attend, whether public, private, parochial, or homeschool. Continue Reading...
January 25, 2013

NAACP, Hispanics Fight Government Intervention

Last September the New York City Board of Health approved a measure that would ban the sale of sugary drinks over 16 ounces. Politicians justified the action because of the city’s escalating obesity rate and research linking sugary drinks to weight gain. Continue Reading...
January 25, 2013

Why State Governments Should Issue Lottery Tickets to People on Welfare

In a prime example of how irony is lost on politicians, lawmakers in North Carolina are proposing to prohibit people receiving welfare from playing in the lottery. Perhaps the legislators aren’t aware of what state lotteries are, in effect if not intent, designed to do: redistribute the income of mostly poor Americans to a handful of other citizens—and to the state’s coffers. Continue Reading...
January 25, 2013

Necessity as the Mother of Innovation

There’s an old proverb, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Life is often difficult, full of challenges, trials, and travails. But it is a testament to the human spirit, created in the image of God to mature and develop morally, spiritually, and intellectually, that in the face of such troubles human ingenuity often wins out. Continue Reading...
January 24, 2013

Why Do the Wicked Prosper?

Why do the wicked prosper? This plaintive query is a consistent cry from the psalmist and the prophets. As Jeremiah puts it, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” Continue Reading...