Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Virtue

October 08, 2013

Audio: Lawrence Reed at Acton On Tap

The Fall 2013 Acton On Tap series kicked off at Speak EZ Lounge in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., this evening with Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education, who addressed gathered attendees on the lessons our society can learn from the history of Rome. Continue Reading...
September 25, 2013

Spiritual Capital and Social Justice

Today at Ethika Politika, I examine the connection between the spiritual practice of meditation — the Jesus Prayer in particular — and justice: If we take justice to mean “to render to each what is due,” we may have some understanding of how this relates. Continue Reading...
September 25, 2013

Sachs Misses The Civil Society Mark (Again)

Over at the New York Times, economist Jeffrey Sachs opines about the need for greater measures to “end poverty” in countries across the world where people are truly suffering. Using data from the World Bank, Sachs reports that the proportion of households in developing countries below the extreme-poverty line has declined sharply from 52 percent in 1980, to 43 percent in 1990, 34 percent in 1999, and 21 percent in 2010. Continue Reading...
September 23, 2013

A Confederacy of IRS Dunces

A few months ago I wrote about how when I was a young Marine I learned that when the commanding officer says, “I wish” or “I desire,” these expressions have the force of a direct order and should be acted upon as if they had given a direct order. Continue Reading...
September 23, 2013

Even in Prison There is Dignity in Work

In a program at Colorado’s Crowley County Correctional Facility, prisoners hand-make roof trusses and oak cabinets for use in Habitat For Humanity home. The inmates not only learn carpentry skills but the dignity of work: “For me, personally, having that apprenticeship was priceless,” said Mike Voss. Continue Reading...
September 17, 2013

When Moral Law Trumps a Hip Hop Hoax

The BBC reports on a major hoax pulled by Scottish rappers Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd. The college friends pretended to be Americans and lived a lie for three years in order to secure a record deal and tour the UK and eventually the world as rappers. Continue Reading...
August 30, 2013

Blacks as Mascots of Progressivism

There are times when you have to imagine that black justice pioneers like Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and the like, must be turning in their graves at the nonsense circumstances that black Americans find themselves in in 2013. Continue Reading...
August 28, 2013

A Dream Celebrated and Sabotaged

As we mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream Speech,” we find reason for pause, for praise, and for lament. There is much to celebrate because MLK’s dream has been experienced for many blacks, albeit imperfectly, especially for the black middle-class. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2013

The Blessed Business of Beer

A recent story from Catholic News Service highlights an interesting encounter between markets and monasticism, a subject that I have commented on before, this time centered around the Monastery of St. Continue Reading...